Fortunate Son of the Sea God
by McCanner
Summary: AU in which the demigods from the Prophecy of Seven plus Nico, Thalia, Reyna, Calypso, and my O.C David son of Demeter, are living in peace during the Vietnam War when the mysterious Lieutenant Chiron recruits them to fight in the war. Definitely recommend listening to music from the 60's/70's to fully take in the atmosphere. Rated T for blood, violence, and language. R&R!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: You're in the Army now

Percy really hated his luck.

One day, he's a part of a big anti-war protest in New York, and the next thing he knows he finds out he's been drafted and has to leave his mom behind to go serve.

After saying goodbye to his mom at the bus station, he and the others were forced to stand in line on these yellow footsteps as a big, burly man yelled at them. After being verbally abused, Percy and the other trainees were ushered onto the bus. Percy plopped himself down in a seat by himself in the back. The ride didn't last that long before they arrived at a place called Parris Island. After the bus came to a stop, another uniformed man stepped onto the bus.

"Alright listen up you useless maggots!" the man yelled.

Everyone's attention immediately diverted to him and the talking quickly subsided.

"As soon as you get off the bus, I want each of you to march over to the staging area where everyone can be accounted for"

Everyone stared blankly at him, except for Percy, he sat back with his arms crossed rolling his eyes, he really didn't want to be here and he was going to make it known quickly.

"Alright you scumbags, MOVE OUT!"

Everyone quickly shuffled off the bus as fast as they could and made their way over to a long black metal building that had a big red sign on the front that said:

The Point of No Return

Percy just let out a big sigh whenever he read the warning sign. It was clearly meant to intimidate new recruits but Percy clearly wasn't fazed. He initially wanted to burn his draft notice like his other ant-war buddies did when they got drafted but his mom insisted that he not. This confused Percy because he figured his mom would rather have him home in her safe care rather than on the other side of the world fighting in a war that didn't make a lot of sense to anyone. He remembered the conversation he had with his mom the day he received his draft notice.

"Mom, you know how stupid and dangerous it is for me to go over there!" Percy argued.

He and his mom were standing in the small kitchen in their two-bedroom apartment in Manhattan. His mom had cooked some blue cookies for him and they were sitting on the counter.

His mom let out a sigh, Percy noticed that she had a sad look on her face.

"I'm fully aware of that Percy but I've already made up my mind, you're not going to ignore your country when it needs you to serve," she said with a firm tone even though the sad look remained.

"Why me?" Percy asked.

"There are millions of other kids all over the country who are dumb enough to go fight in this stupid war."

His mom remained still looking at him and let out another sigh. Percy could tell that she wasn't 100% in support of this either, there must've been another reason.

"It has something to do with dad doesn't it?" Percy asked.

His mom's expression became even sadder; Percy immediately understood what she meant.

Percy had never met his dad but his mom stayed in contact with him, at least that's what she had been telling him. Percy wasn't quite anxious to meet the guy; he had grown to become bitter towards his mysterious father. He hadn't been there for support when his mom had to work several jobs just to pay for everything.

"It's what he would want for you Percy," his mom spoke softy.

"Why should I care what he wants?!" Percy yelled which mad his mom jump.

"He hasn't been here for anything; my first steps, my first time riding a bike, or my graduation!" He added.

His mom's sad expression remained unchanged except a lone tear was making its way down her face.

"I…I'm sorry I yelled at you mom, its not your fault" Percy apologized.

His mom nodded in understanding, "It's okay, I understand that you're frustrated," she responded. She even managed a smile before motioning towards the tray of blue cookies sitting there untouched on the counter. I had completely forgotten how hungry I was and decided to abandon the issue and started shoving the cookies into my mouth as fast as I could.

"Get a move on private!" yelled the uniformed man as I came back to reality.

I then sprinted inside the building taking my place next to the other recruits. The guys in uniform sorted us out and took us to get our hair shaved off after we were given olive green fatigues. After all of that we lined up standing in attention in the place that housed all the beds. It wasn't long before another uniformed man showed up, this one looked like your average drill instructor that you see in the movies, he wore shiny black boots to go along with his uniform and wore one of those weird hats that only drill sergeants wear.

"My name is Drill Sergeant Beasley and anytime you address me the last thing that comes out of your filthy mouths will be Sir Yes Sir, do I make myself clear?!

"Sir, yes sir!" everyone yelled in response.

"I can't hear you!" he responded.

"SIR, YES SIR!" everyone yelled at the top of their lungs.

"That's more like it!" Beasley responded.

He paced down the line of soldiers inspecting their appearance before stopping in front of one poor guy.

"What's your name private!?" Beasley yelled at him point blank.

The private had tan white skin and was a couple of inches taller than Beasley.

"Private Everson sir!" he yelled back in response.

The guy's voice sounded confident but his face remained emotionless, as if he was more than mentally prepared for anything Beasley could yell at him.

"Well, Private Everson, you look like you'll make a mighty fine soldier if you can hold a face like that in combat." Beasley yelled with a smirk. Percy detected that he probably got a sick thrill out of intimidating the new recruits.

"Sir, yes sir!" Everson replied.

"I'm surprise you didn't choose to go play football in the pros, we need every soldier we can get!" Beasley yelled again. It was then that Percy realized that he had heard about the guy on the news, his name was David Everson and he was on the news for turning down an offer to go pro in football to join the army which shocked a lot of people, including Percy.

"Sir, I couldn't resist a chance to fight for my country, sir" David yelled.

"Another lamb for the slaughter" muttered Beasley under his breath so only he could hear but Percy overheard. He continued acing down the line of troops before he stopped in front of Percy.

"What's your name private?!" he yelled at him from so close that Percy could smell the sardines on his breath. Unlike David, Percy wasn't nearly as respectful towards the drill instructor. He let out a yawn before stating his name. "Uh, my name is Percy Jackson…sir" he said with a chuckle. Beasley's face curled into an evil grin, he had no doubt dealt with troublemakers like Percy before, and he knew exactly what to do.

"Ohhhh, so we have a troublemaker over here everyone!" Beasley said looking around the room to make sure everyone could clearly see him trying to make a fool out of Percy.

"Listen here boy, I'm gonna give you one more chance to say your name right so I don't have to take… _other_ measures." Beasley growled with a angry expression.

Percy merely shrugged his shoulders and opened his mouth to speak, "I told you my name is…" Percy managed before Beasley punched him in the gut as hard as he could.

Normally, Percy could take any kind of beating anyone could throw at him, he had grown up dealing with bullies and thugs who wanted to pummel him and that made him tougher.

Unfortunately, Beasley hadn't given him anytime to brace for impact and the punch knocked the wind out of Percy and made him double up in pain on the cold, linoleum floor.

"Private, I expect you to answer any question with sir, yes sir do I make myself clear?!" Beasley yelled while standing over Percy.

Percy responded with a groan of pain, which only angered Beasley even more.

"I didn't want to have to do this son but someone has to teach you a lesson" Beasley sighed. He reached down and grabbed Percy by the scruff of his neck and started dragging him along. Percy tried wiggling his way out of the man's grip but it was no use, the guy had an iron grip.

"Maybe a little water humiliation will help you show some respect," Beasley growled as Percy realized he was being dragged into the barrack's bathroom. Beasley kicked open one of stall doors and dragged Percy to the toilet. Just as Percy's face was about to be plunged into toilet water, he felt a rush of energy. As if someone just gave him a double shot of espresso. Suddenly, Percy felt the water in the toilet move to his will and he summoned a wall of water at the drill instructor. The sudden burst caught him by surprise as he was sent tumbling out of the bathroom and into the main room of the barracks where the other soldiers remained at attention. Percy then gathered himself and made his way back into the main barracks where everyone looked at him shocked. Percy gave a look of confusion before looking down and he instantly figured out why everyone was shocked, Beasley was soaked from head to toe and Percy was completely dry.


	2. Chapter 2

Fortunate Son of the Sea God chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Grey-Eyed Girl

Annabeth P.O.V

It wasn't very often that Annabeth didn't look forward to going to class.

She had an architecture class to go to at Columbia University, a private Ivy-league college in upper Manhattan. Annabeth graduated at the top of her class back in San Francisco and was given a chance to get a degree in architecture from the highly distinguished university.

Normally, Annabeth is eager to leave her bland apartment off-campus and walk to her classes. Today was an unfortunate exception due to a huge anti-war protest going on all throughout the borough of Manhattan. Angry protestors were marching all over the streets with signs decorated in drawings of peace signs and phrases like: "Make love not war" and "Get the Hell out of Vietnam". All Annabeth could do was let out a sigh as she observed the protestors from her window. She really hadn't given much thought to the war in Vietnam. She was so focused on her classes at school and trying to keep up with her dad. Annabeth felt cruel for leaving him by himself in California to take care of her adopted brothers. Even though he insisted that he had everything under control whenever they wrote each other, she still felt that he could use some help.

Annabeth eventually pushed those thoughts aside; she NEEDED to make it to class on time. She quickly gathered up her materials for class that included her textbooks, her pencils, and her father's dagger that she kept hidden in her book bag for good luck. After taking a deep breath, Annabeth pushed open the door to her 2nd story apartment and after locking the door behind her; she started the long walk to class. Her class starts at 10:30 and she looked at her watch and it read 9:45, she would make it on time as long as she could find a way through the angry protestors outside. After making it to the front door of the lobby, Annabeth pushed open the door and immediately took in the smell. It smelled of a myriad of things that combined together to create that signature New York smell that you either loved or hated.

After taking in the smell, Annabeth started making her way over to the college. The protestors she saw outside her apartment earlier must've moved to a different street that made her take a sigh of relief. She really wasn't in the mood to deal with them especially since she had a class to be at.

Unfortunately for Annabeth, her day was about to take a turn for the worst.

No more than a few blocks away from campus, the protestors were gathered in masse in the streets. That wasn't even the worst part, a line of police officers and military police soldiers cut off the street that Annabeth was walking on. The tension between the crowd and the police was only getting worse the more Annabeth looked on. There was no way that she would be able to muscle her way through the crowd and she seriously doubted that the police would just lower their guns, smile, and let a random college student pass by their perimeter.

Annabeth quickly started analyzing her options, she could risk the back-alleys but that could be more dangerous especially alone. She could try reasoning with the police and the crowd to try and ease the tension. Before she could give it much more thought, the yelling from the crowd started getting even louder, it wouldn't be much longer before this escalated into a riot and that would keep her from getting to class even longer.

Quickly, Annabeth started maneuvering her way through the crowd as quickly as she could, she didn't have time to think anymore, she had to act quickly. After receiving some a few unwanted elbows from some of the sweaty protestors, she made it to the front of the mob.

Annabeth glanced around the police officers for someone who looked like they were in charge of the others. She noticed a man standing in the middle that gave off the feeling of being in-charge so Annabeth tried to get his attention.

"Excuse me officer?!" she asked as loudly as she could.

The officer kept his gaze focused on the crowd and Annabeth realized that he wore a completely blank expression on his face, as if dealing with protests like this was a routine thing.

"I have to make it to a class?!" Annabeth continued as she scooted herself closer to the middle of the line where she could face the head officer. "Can you please let me through?" she pleaded. "I'm not one of them," she assured the officer as she pointed her finger at the crowd signaling that she wasn't among them.

The officer remained silent and simply shook his head at Annabeth then motioned for her to go back the way she came.

Annabeth started to become more frustrated with the policeman; she made it clear that she wasn't a hooligan like the people behind her.

Just as she started to open her mouth to give the guy a piece of her mind a male voice spoke out from behind her.

"Yeah, let the princess on through, she won't start any trouble, she has to make it back to her castle to kiss her Prince Charming!" the voice shouted from behind.

Everyone started busting out laughing, Annabeth could feel her cheeks getting warm from the embarrassment, and she was going to KILL whoever said that.

Annabeth quickly spun around to face the crowd, and as soon as they saw the anger in her gray, stormy eyes, the laughter quickly subsided.

"Which one of you idiots said that?!" Annabeth demanded with a fiery expression in her eyes.

It wasn't long before a black-haired teenager made his way to the front of the crowd. In any other situation, Annabeth probably would've avoided talking to the guy. He was definitely around Annabeth's age but that's where the similarities ended. He had green eyes and had on a mischievous look that spelled nothing but trouble. He wore a stained New York Knicks shirt, faded blue jeans, and a pair of Converse Chuck Taylor's.

"You demanded my presence, your highness?" he said with an evil grin.

Annabeth angrily made her way over to the boy and elbowed him right in his family jewels. He let out a groan before collapsing onto the pavement.

Annabeth stood over him and gave him a look that could've killed if it had the chance.

"Don't you ever call me that ever again," Annabeth growled.

The guy rolled over to face Annabeth and she noticed that his face still had the grin on it.

"How about…Your Majesty?" he asked with a grin.

Annabeth let out a scream of pure anger and reared back with her foot to kick the punk but before she could make contact the little devil brought his hands down and caught her foot, which completely caught Annabeth by surprise.

In one swift movement, he grabbed both of her legs and pulled them out from under her bringing her down to the concrete right on her ass.

She let out a scream of frustration and frantically started trying to punch the guy as much as she could. He simply absorbed them and gently pushed her on the shoulder to where she was now laying on her back. He crawled on top of her and pinned both of her arms to the ground.

"I'm gonna kill you!" she managed to yell through gritted teeth.

The guy merely laughed the threat off.

"Well you wouldn't be the fi-" was all he managed before a scream from the crowd broke the silence.

The guy looked behind him at the crowd and noticed a man with a bottle that was filled with a brown liquid and had a flaming rag sticking out of the top.

Annabeth's eyes got wide; she had read about those weapons in her history class, the Finns used them against the Soviet's before World War Two.

"MOLOTOV!" shouted the lead officer as everyone took cover.

The man hurled the flammable cocktail at the police and it collided with a police car causing it to burst into flames.

Annabeth instinctively tried to shield herself from the fire and realized that the guy on top of her was protecting her from the flames with his own body.

After the flames died down a bit, the police started advancing on the crowd. They started throwing tear gas canisters and the crowd tried to resist.

Before Annabeth could get a read on what was happening amid the chaos. A canister of the gas landed next to her. The mystery man covered his eyes and face but it was to late for Annabeth as her vision starting getting blurry and she had a harder time trying to breath.

She cursed herself for not thinking quickly enough about the gas, usually she is very good at thinking quickly when she needs to, but she's never been in a riot before so that made things more difficult.

"Use your shirt and cover your face!" the mystery man demanded.

Annabeth complied and pulled up the collar of her shirt to cover her face.

"Unless you 'd enjoy jail, I suggest we get out of here!" the guy said.

Annabeth was still caught up in all the events unraveling around her and just stared blankly as the police continued to advance.

The guy let out an exasperated yell and pulled Annabeth up off the ground and motioned towards a nearby alley.

The two sprinted over quickly dodging tear gas and the occasional rubber bullet.

Annabeth had never been this scared before except for all those times she had spiders crawl in her room when she was little.

After putting some distance between themselves and the riot, Annabeth and the mysterious stranger came to a stop panting heavily.

"You…you protected me…from the fire," Annabeth managed to say in between her deep breathing.

The mysterious stranger, who was hunched over trying to catch his breath, looked up and managed a smile, this one was more sincere and not as evil as the one earlier.

"Just an instinct I guess," he said with a shrug.

Annabeth then noticed something strange, the guy had protected her from a huge fireball, he should've been scorched head to toe but he looked completely fine as if nothing happened.

"Well…thank you I guess," Annabeth muttered appreciatively.

She looked at her wristwatch and noticed it was still intact, it read 10:25.

She would have to hurry if she wanted to make it to her class on time.

She started making her way towards an adjacent street hoping she wasn't too far away from the school after the riot.

"Hey!" the stranger called from behind. "Aren't you forgetting something?!" he asked.

Annabeth suddenly came to an abrupt stop; she forgot her backpack! It held all her books and supplies and most importantly her dad's knife, which she mentally slapped herself for not thinking about earlier. That knife would've come in handy.

"Uhhh…" was all she could manage.

That brought another chuckle from the stranger, "Here, I think you'll need this…your majesty."

Annabeth turned around to pummel the guy when she realized he was holding her backpack.

She snatched it out his hands, "Thank you…but don't call me your majesty ever again," she snapped.

The guy raised his hands as if he was surrendering, "Then what can I call you… _wise girl_ ," he said with a smirk.

"Annabeth, my name is Annabeth," she said.

"Name's Percy, it's a pleasure," Percy said in response. He lowered his hand to shake mine, I reluctantly obliged to the gesture.

While they were shaking hands, Annabeth made the mistake of looking at those sea-green eyes. She just stared at him for what felt like an eternity before Percy let out a cough to end the awkward silence.

"Going somewhere?" he said with a grin.

Annabeth felt herself fall back into reality and remembered that she had a class to go to, she felt her cheeks become red from embarrassment.

"Oh… yeah, I should be going," she said with a clear blush.

Annabeth turned around and took off running out of the alley way and into the streets.

While running to class, Annabeth started thinking about what the hell just happened. How did Percy protect her from the fire without getting burned? How did he know she had to be somewhere? And how the hell did he get her backpack?

Annabeth's thinking was interrupted when she accidentally ran over some guy in a wheelchair.

"I'm so sorry sir!" she apologized. She helped the poor man get back into his wheelchair.

"Oh, don't worry about it," he said with a friendly smile.

"As a matter of fact, I'm very glad that I ran into you, do you mind if we have a brief, little chat?"


	3. Chapter 3

Fortunate Son of the Sea God

Chapter 3: These Boots are Made for Walkin'

Piper POV

"Order up!" exclaimed the cook from the kitchen.

Piper shook herself back into reality and quickly made her way over to the window to the kitchen. It was lunchtime at the Quick n' Eat diner she worked at and the place was busy.

It was the only job she could find after she finished high school and decided to live on her own.

This surprised a lot of her friends because her dad, Tristan McLean, could've easily paid for her to go to college. He was a big time Hollywood actor who had always been able to give Piper anything she wanted.

However, as she grew older, Piper grew tired of the lifestyle.

She didn't have to work for anything and at school the only friends she could make weren't real friends, they only cared about Piper because of how filthy rich she was.

Piper waited until she finished up high school and insisted that she wanted to be independent from her father and live on her own so she turned down college to get a cheap, one-bedroom in downtown Los Angeles.

Her dad agreed to the idea but he had to give Piper some money so she could afford a place to live.

The waitress job at the diner wasn't pleasant, but it was enough to pay her bills.

Piper let out a sigh as she scooped up the plate from the window and made her way into the main dining room.

The diner was quite the opposite of all the five star restaurants Piper's dad had taken her to all her life.

The place smelled of grease and cigarettes constantly and while Piper's nose had gotten adjusted, it still sickened her a little bit.

A bar sat against one wall and it was lined with customers, mostly men.

Tables filled the middle of the room and all of them were occupied with customers.

On the opposite wall were some booths and most of them were taken.

Piper strutted over to the table that the food was ordered from.

Four young men sat at the table and they looked as if they just came from working on a highway or something. They were covered in dust, grime, and sweat and judging by the anxious looks in their eyes, Piper didn't want to keep them waiting any longer.

"Four orders of burgers and fries?" she asked with a smile.

The four workers just stared at Piper like she was a giant hamburger or something. Piper was used to this kind of attention, the customers always complimented her on how gorgeous she looked. Piper's dad always told her that she got that from her mom and Piper would always ask if she would ever meet her.

"Maybe if you behave yourself, Piper," is what her dad would always respond with before rubbing her on the head with a smile.

Piper came back to reality and remembered that the four dusty workers were still gaping at her, Piper let out a small cough to try and snap them out of it.

"Uh….yes, yes that is ours thank you," one of the workers said.

Piper smiled and sat the food on the table and the immediately dug in.

"Boys," Piper thought to herself as she made her way back behind the counter and resumed helping her co-workers.

One of her co-workers, Angela, walked up to speak to her.

She was older than Piper and had her dirty blonde hair tied back in a bandana, she looked like she was ready to go to war with anybody who dared ask for extra napkins.

"Can you go over to the table number 4 and give them their check?" Angela asked.

Piper nodded and made her way over to the corresponding table.

It's occupants, a middle-aged couple, sat waiting patiently with their empty plates of food.

"Did you guys enjoy everything?" Piper asked with a friendly smile.

The man looked up from his newspaper, "Um, yeah sure it was can we have our check please?" he asked.

"You sure can sir," Piper replied with the same smile.

Piper then paused for a moment, she needed as much money as she could get.

"If you wouldn't mind, I just found out the other day that I'm pregnant so if you could pitch in some extra money I would greatly appreciate it," Piper lied.

"Of course we can!" the woman spoke up before she glanced at her date.

The man's expression looked confused at first then changed to a smile as he agreed. "That's no problem sweetie," he said as he reached into his wallet and pulled out some cash and handed the wad of bills to Piper. She counted the money and she had to hid her excitement when she counted it to be over $100.

"Thank you so much mister my baby will greatly appreciate it!" she said with an innocent look as she made her way back over to the kitchen.

Piper had a secret power that only she knew, it wasn't like those you see in comic books where she could fly or see through walls, even though that would be super cool.

No, Piper's power was in her voice. She can use her voice to bend other's wills to her own.

She never used it for anything too bad, just to make her life easier from time to time.

Recently, she had been experimenting with it on the customers at the diner, asking for extra tips or just asking for money. She never took too much from one person either.

Piper continued making her way to the kitchen before she heard a new voice come from one of the booths that was empty earlier.

"Excuse me miss?" the voice asked.

She turned around to see an older looking man sitting there in a military uniform with a wheelchair parked next to the booth.

Piper stared at him briefly, she didn't see anyone come in the door in a wheelchair or did she? Piper dismissed the thought.

"Someone will be with you shortly sir" Piper replied with her usual smile.

The man wore a tired expression, as if he had traveled all across the country and fought in the war over in Vietnam.

"Oh, that wont be necessary, Piper, I came here to speak with you," he spoke with a seemingly friendly grin.

How did he know her name? Piper didn't have her nametag on and now the mystery man freaked her out. She kept a cool head and decided to try using her power to make him go away.

"I'm sorry sir, but my name isn't Piper, I can help you looker up in the phone book if you really need to find her," Piper lied.

She paused as she waited for the man to hopefully apologize and ask for the phone book.

The man's expression remained unchanged before he let out a brief sigh.

"Your charmspeak could use some work Piper," he said.

Piper's smile faded away to a look of pure terror, she wanted to run away and hide from the man. No one had ever been able to resist her lies or charmspeak, as the man said.

The man must've detected Piper's fear and he tried to assure her.

"Don't worry, I'm just a friend here to offer you a proposal," he spoke calmly.

Piper remained frozen in fear, every muscle in her body told her to take off running the other way but something else told her that she should listen to the mystery man.

"My name is Lieutenant Chiron," he said with that same smile.

He held out his hand from the table for Piper to shake it.

After a brief pause, she hesitantly obliged and shook the man's hand.

"Please, have a seat," he said as he motioned for Piper to sit down across from him at the booth.

Piper slowly slid into the booth's seat and glared at the Lieutenant waiting to hear what he had to say.

He glanced around the diner as if he was making sure they weren't being spied on or something then directed his attention to Piper.

'My apologies for the sudden introduction but if you had been traveling all around the country recruiting demigods for the army, you would be exhausted too," he said.

"Wha.." was all Piper could manage.

Chiron raised his hand for Piper to be quiet.

"Don't worry…I'll explain everything," he assured her.

Chiron then went on to explain to Piper that the Greek and Roman gods from her mythology lessons in high school are actually real. He added that Piper was a daughter of Aphrodite and that's where she developed that power she has. Chiron said it's called charmspeak and can be very powerful, especially on mortals. After some added explanations, Chiron made it to that proposal he mentioned earlier.

"I'm sure you're aware of the war going on right now?" he asked before pointing at a T.V in the corner.

The T.V was showing clips of the war that included soldiers shooting machine guns, jet planes dropping napalm bombs on the jungle, and villages being burned by American troopers.

Piper was well kept up with the war from that T.V; everyone in the diner would often quiet down whenever Walter Cronkite spoke during the news.

It also was very common for off-duty soldiers, sailors, or even pilots to stop by the diner.

Piper remembered when one poor soldier, who told them he had just gotten home from his tour, started panicking whenever another waitress accidentally dropped a glass.

The loud noise startled everyone but especially the soldier.

Piper remembered hearing about soldier's coming home from battle and having a very tough time getting readjusted to normal life. Any loud noise can remind them of a bomb or a grenade going off and it can really mess with their brains.

Piper could vividly remember reassuring the guy that everything was going to be alright and trying to use her charmspeak to sooth his nerves.

She remembered that distressed look he got in his eyes that showed how painful war can be, Piper shuddered at the memory.

"Yes, I'm aware of it," she replied to Chiron.

Chiron let out another sigh, whatever proposal he had, he must've not been very proud about it.

"The government is looking for anyone that they can send over to help fight and that includes demigods, so I'm traveling around the country looking to recruit men and women like you to form a special division," he spoke the words with deep sorrow, as if he would much rather be warning Piper to steer clear of the war rather than fight in it.

"If you don't want to join I understand but your country could use someone like you Piper," Chiron spoke.

"I thought only men were allowed to serve?" she asked.

"The president has gone out of his way to make sure that any Greek or Roman demigod can serve regardless of gender or race," Chiron answered.

Piper gave the proposal some thought, this would be a great chance to really get out from under her dad's shadow. It would be especially tough, but this was a once in a lifetime chance. She also really hadn't made a plan for what she would do once she had gotten enough money from her job at the diner. This would give her the true purpose in her life that she had been looking for and even if it wasn't the most glamorous, it was her best option.

"I'm in," Piper spoke up.

Chiron's expression shifted into a smile,

"Glad to hear it, now I would recommend saying goodbye to any family before we depart," Chiron said.

Piper nodded in agreement before a question popped into her head and she blurted it out.

"What about the others?" she asked suddenly.

Chiron shuffled uncomfortably in his seat,

"Well, I've already convinced a daughter of Athena, the goddess of wisdom, to join," he answered.

"Her name is Annabeth and she is waiting at her home in New York for the call to report to Camp Half-Blood," he added.

"Camp Half-Blood?" Piper asked.

"It's our base of operations for demigod soldiers, its located on Long Island just outside of New York City," he continued.

Piper was still trying to process all the information Chiron was feeding her, she had agreed to join his army but now Piper was starting to feel a tad bit overwhelmed.

Chiron continued talking while Piper thought about everything,

"I've also heard about some son of Poseidon who nearly drowned his drill instructor at Parris island, I'm afraid I'm going to have to convince the military authorities to hand him over to me,' he said with a sigh.

Piper merely stared blankly at the Lieutenant,

"It's alright Piper, everything will all make sense once you've been settled in at the base and properly trained as well," he assured her.

Chiron then scooted over to his wheelchair and sat down,

"That's all this country needs, a lean, mean, Communist killing machine with a bunch of demigods manning the controls," he sighed motioning for Piper to follow him.

Piper got up and quickly told her boss she's quitting before following Chiron to the door outside.


	4. Chapter 4

Fortunate Son of the Sea God

Chapter 4: Riders on the Storm

Jason POV

"Just another average day," Jason muttered to himself as he drove his car to the airport.

Jason was a flight attendant and boy did he hate his job. He was rarely given that much vacation time and the work had gotten boring and monotonous over the past couple of months. Despite this, Jason tried to stay optimistic in the car ride. He cranked up the volume on his car's stereo. He soon recognized the words to one of his favorite songs and started humming along to the music.

 _ **Into this house we're born**_

 _ **Into this world we're thrown**_

 _ **Like a dog without a bone**_

 _ **An actor out on loan**_

 _ **Riders on the storm**_

The song helped Jason divert his focus away from his stupid job and more on things that mattered more. The only reason he even had the job was because he was trying to gather money to aid in the search for his parents. Jason never met his true parents and had been in foster care for as long as he could remember. Once he had grown old enough, he had started searching for clues as to who exactly were his parents and where he could find them. He hadn't found much of anything besides the fact that he had a sister. He had a old, worn-out picture of her that he kept in his wallet for safe keeping.

He was told her name was Thalia by the nun at the orphanage who gave it to him and said that the picture came in a sealed envelope with Jason's name on it plus the address of the orphanage he was at. The strange thing was that there was no return address and the stamp had some Greek symbol on it or something.

Jason continued thinking about his predicament until he arrived at the airport. He parked his car in the employee-parking garage and made his way inside the airport.

It was Wednesday so the airport wasn't that busy today, most of the people Jason saw were businessmen or lone strangers who were traveling alone.

Jason noticed the anxious and excited looks on many of the travelers he passed while walking through the airport terminal, a look that Jason used to share before he became a flight attendant. Jason picked this job because he felt at ease up in the sky. He also desired a chance to be able to travel to new and exotic places. He understood that it wouldn't be the same as being a tourist but he figured it was as close as he could get. Sadly, the farthest flight that Jason had been on was to Canada. Not that Jason had anything against the country, but he had hoped for the opportunity to see other countries that didn't border the United States.

Jason let out a sigh, he continued walking down the terminal before arriving at the flight he would be serving people on. It was a round trip flight all the way to New York City and Jason couldn't be anymore less excited for it.

He had been on this flight to and from New York plenty of times and he had gotten used to taking in the sight of all the big buildings and skyscrapers.

Jason then noticed two things that caught his attention. First, Jason looked out of the big window next to the gate and saw that there were some dark and ominous clouds in the distance. Jason was surprised that they hadn't delayed the flight. The forecast must've been different from what Jason was seeing.

The second thing Jason noticed was a girl sitting outside the gate in the waiting area. She had dark black hair and was wearing a black leather jacket with a black shirt underneath along with ripped black jeans to match. She was looking at the ground impatiently when Jason spotted her. She must have sensed that Jason was staring at her because she raised her head and made direct eye contact with Jason.

She looked almost exactly like the girl from the photo! She must've aged a good bit since the picture was taken but Jason still recognized her. She looked fairly similar to him and had electric blue eyes just like Jason. Jason had finally found Thalia and he could hardly believe it. He wanted to sprint over and give her huge a brother to sister hug and try to catch up with her on their parents. Hopefully she had better information on their parents and they could work together to find them. Jason was so awestruck that he didn't even notice one of his fellow flight attendants trying to get his attention.

"Jason?" she asked.

Jason didn't respond, he still had his eyes locked into a weird staring contest with his newfound sister. Thalia's eyes started to get wide in astonishment as she started to realize that she was staring at her lost brother.

"Jason…it's time for us to get the plane cabin set up," this time Jason snapped his attention to his coworker standing behind him tapping her foot impatiently.

"Yes mamm, sorry about that," Jason responded as his cheeks grew a little red from embarrassment. His coworker simply shook her head and made her way onto the plane and Jason followed.

Just as he was about to enter the gate, he glanced back at his sister who was still sitting in her same seat in the waiting area. Jason noticed that she was whispering something into the ear of the girl next to her and Jason figured they were friends or acquaintances of some sort. Jason still wanted to run over to her and ask her a million questions but it would have to wait until the plane had departed and they were up in the air.

Jason entered the plane and started taking care of his usual flight attendant duties. That included preparing food for the passengers, sweeping the cabin floor, and making sure the bathrooms were stocked with toilet paper. Jason took care of his tasks but the entire time he could only think about his sister and what he would talk about with her when he got a chance.

Jason also hoped that she was sitting in the economy section because that was the section he was always assigned to take care of. It wasn't that Jason didn't like serving the richer people in first-class; it was just that Jason felt more comfortable helping those who weren't as privileged and Jason could totally relate to them.

After some time, the passengers slowly started to make their way on board the plane. Jason went through his normal routine of answering anyone's questions or helping someone fit their carry-on luggage into the overhead compartments. Jason made sure to keep a smile on his face the whole time and was incredibly polite as well. Jason was giving the outward impression that he cared deeply for all the passengers on board and he did care for them but not nearly as much as he did for his sister Thalia.

Jason kept gazing around the flight cabin looking for her before he finally spotted her sitting near the back with a few other girls in matching black clothes. Jason also noticed some writing on their shirts: _The Huntresses._

Jason made a note to mentally slap himself later, The Huntresses were a famous all-girl rock band that got asked to play at some music festival in New York. Jason had no idea that his own sister was a part of a band. He also admired them a little bit for deciding to sit outside of first-class especially with all the money they've probably made.

After everyone on then plane had settled down and the other flight attendant's went over the safety instructions, the pilot spoke over the plane's intercom and gave the passengers details on their flight. Jason didn't pay much attention but he did hear the pilot mention that they might run into some bumpy weather. This didn't bother Jason too much because he had grown adjusted to dealing with just about anything that can happen on a plane minus a crash and Jason definitely wasn't the only one who would rather not experience that.

Once the pilot finished giving his boring speech, the plane slowly rolled it's way along to the runway. It wasn't long until they were speeding along the tarmac and started to ascend into the sky. Jason glanced out the window and watched the ground below as it slowly disappeared from sight as they climbed past some clouds. Jason was buckled into his flight attendant chair and waited anxiously for the pilot to give them the signal that they could move freely around the cabin.

It felt like an eternity had passed by until Jason heard a resounding ding throughout the plane followed by a message over the intercom confirming that they were at cruising altitude. Jason unbuckled his seatbelt and started to make his way over to Thalia before he was stopped by one of his coworkers.

"Jason, are you okay man?" his coworker asked curiously. It must have been obvious to those around Jason that he had his mind on something besides the task at hand and that was something that rarely happened. Jason was always focused on his work and his coworkers were confused why he seemed distracted.

Jason brushed his coworker aside gently,

"Yeah, I'm fine don't worry about it," he assured his coworker who nodded in response and went back to helping passengers.

Jason quickly returned his attention to Thalia who was only a couple of feet from him now. He slowly made his way towards her before stopping next to her chair.

She was fast asleep and wasn't paying any attention to Jason even though he stood only inches away from her.

Jason managed a smile before deciding that he didn't want to rudely wake up his sister, if her looks told him anything, she would definitely appreciate that as well. She was very tired and sullen looking, her band must've been in the middle of an extensive tour and it appeared that it had especially taken a toll on Thalia because she was the only one out of her group asleep, the rest of her band mates were ignoring Jason and chatting incoherently.

Jason then quickly realized how creepy it must look to the other passengers for him to be staring at someone sleeping so he quickly returned back to his duties as a flight attendant. As he walked away he could've sworn he saw one of Thalia's eyes crack open a little bit before shutting closes. Jason dismissed the thought and made his way back to where his coworkers were waiting on him.

Thalia POV

Thalia let her left eye creak open a little bit to see if the blonde guy had finally left her. She breathed an inward sigh of relief when she noticed that he was walking away from her seat. He glanced back and Thalia quickly closed her eye to make it seem as if she was still asleep.

She hated to give this guy the cold shoulder like this but she wasn't quite ready to meet him yet. She had a gut feeling that this guy knew her from somewhere and that's why he was so fascinated by her.

What bothered her though was that he had the same stormy blue eyes that she had. Thalia had never met someone with the same unique eye color as hers and that bothered her. She remembered someone telling her when she was little that she had a brother that died in a car crash so she was sure that this guy wasn't him.

Thalia wanted to discuss this with her friends but decided against it, this was between her and this random guy.

Thalia decided that she needed to rest for real this time and closed her eyes and drifted back to sleep.

* * *

It didn't take long for Thalia to be shaken awake from her sleep, the plane had hit a rough patch of turbulence and the whole plane had started shaking violently.

Thalia was already deathly afraid of heights so this was icing on the cake for her.

She sat there frozen in terror praying for the nightmare to end, this was supposed to be a normal flight from Arizona to New York, not a one-way trip to the place downstairs.

Thalia glanced over her shoulder and out the window and noticed how bad the weather really was.

Lightning was dancing across the sky while the rain came down in sheets as it pounded the plane relentlessly. Thalia could also sense strong winds outside throwing the plane off course.

"Wait a minute…," Thalia thought to herself. She could sense the stormy weather outside the plane? She directed her attention out the window and focused on all the bad weather. Maybe if she could sense the weather she could control it is what she figured. Before she could ponder it anymore a bolt of lightning slammed into the plane knocking the power out and sending the plane into a freefall.

Thalia felt as if her stomach was going up into her throat but she managed to focus out the window and concentrated on the winds and tried to will them to do her bidding. Thalia could feel beads of sweat dibble down her neck as she strained to get the winds under control. Just as it seemed as if they were all doomed, the plane suddenly stopped falling as Thalia realized she had it sitting on a strong buffet of winds.

Everyone looked around confused yet relieved as Thalia maintained her focus on keeping the plane from falling. It wasn't too long after that power returned to the plane as it resumed its flight to New York as if nothing had happened. Thalia collapsed back into her seat from exhaustion and let out a sigh of relief. She was then surprised to see the blonde headed guy standing next to her again with a tired expression on his face. He managed a smile when Thalia noticed him but it was clear how exhausted he was as well.

"My name is Jason…Jason Grace," he said.

"Thalia," was all she could manage in response.

"I guess it's time we had a little talk," he spoke with a happy face, Thalia could tell that he had been waiting a very long time for this.

The two went on to discuss how their lives had been up until now and Jason asked Thalia if she knew anything about their parents. She shook her head in response.

"I was on my own as an orphan until I met these girls," Thalia said as she motioned to the members of her band.

Jason went on to explain how he was also an orphan for a while until he was adopted by some kind people who taught him everything he knows.

After some more conversation, the plane eventually landed in one piece in New York City.

"Want to get a cup of coffee and talk some more?" Jason asked politely as he made his way off the plane with Thalia following close behind.

"I wish but we have to get ready for our next show," Thalia replied with a frown. She really didn't want to just abandon Jason but she couldn't leave her band mates hanging either.

"Oh, I understand,' Jason said with a defeated look in his face.

The two continued off the plane and into the terminal of the airport.

"I'd better get going, sorry we couldn't talk more," Thalia apologized sincerely.

Jason simply nodded and made his way back onto the airplane to resume his duties.

Before he could make it to the gate however, a man dressed in a military uniform in a wheelchair came wheeling over.

"Wait!" he shouted at Jason and Thalia.

The two froze and looked over at the mysterious man as he eventually came to a stop in front of them panting heavily. His hair was in a shaggy mess but his beard was neatly trimmed. He looked much older than Thalia and Jason and after he finally caught his breath he started to speak.

"I have a proposal for you two that you should consider," he said as he pointed a finger at Jason and Thalia.

The two exchanged a nervous look before returning their attention to the wheelchair guy.

"Alright, shoot," Thalia replied with an evil grin.


	5. Chapter 5

Fortunate Son of the Sea God

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for the long delay in updates everyone I'm still new to the FanFiction world and trying to do my best. To answer some of your reviews, every character will be introduced before going through their special demigod training so be patient!**

 **Also, a special S/O to one of my faithful reviewers: NoTearsFalling**

 **Thanks for being so awesome!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my O.C**

* * *

Chapter 5: Tin Soldiers

Frank POV

Frank really wondered why he wasn't in the army.

He had been craving a chance to join up and serve ever since his mom passed away during the Korean War. She was the only reason he didn't enlist as soon as he was of age. He had promised her that he would go get a college degree before he ever put his name down to go fight in the war.

Frank was working on that promise by sitting through another history lecture at his college, Kent State University, a humble college in Kent, Ohio.

"Frank, could you tell the class about the Boston Massacre?" His professor asked bringing Frank out of his military daydream.

"The Boston Massacre was an incident in 1770 in which British soldiers opened fire on a crowd of protestors in Boston killing five people and injuring others," Frank quickly responded. He rarely ever zoned out of lectures and he was lucky that he had studied the material last night.

"That is correct Mr. Zhang," his professor responded. "The Boston Massacre is also considered by many historians to be one of the events that sparked the beginning of the American Revolution." He continued.

Frank listened to his professor as he went on about how the British soldiers panicked when they were confronted by the large crowds of angry colonists. He said that while the violence was important in motivating the colonists to fight back against the British, it could have been avoided.

The professor rambled on some more until a ringing from the campus Victory Bell was heard. Strange, they usually only rang the bell whenever the football team won a big game or something.

All the students in the class stood up and walked outside to see a big congregation of angry student protestors. They were protesting the war in Vietnam, which wasn't uncommon around the country, and especially in Kent, Ohio. Frank remembered seeing the campus ROTC building getting burned to the ground the other day.

The National Guard had been called in a couple of days ago to try and stop the protesting that had turned violent. So far they hadn't done much except get people more riled up about everything.

The current masses of protestors were in a confrontation with some soldiers in a jeep who were trying to get the crowd under control. A soldier in the back of the jeep spoke over a megaphone trying to dissuade the protest.

"This is your final warning," the soldier spoke over the megaphone. "Disperse immediately or you will suffer the consequences,"

The warning was met by a volley of rocks launched at the soldiers from the crowd. The soldiers tried to shield themselves from the rocks but to little success as they retreated away in their jeep much to the joy of the crowd of people.

Frank started walking to the dining hall when he bumped into a younger looking girl who dropped her books.

"I'm sorry miss I didn't see you there," Frank apologized to the girl as he hunched down with her to help her pick up her books. It was here that Frank got a good look at her appearance, she had dark colored skin with long and flowing curly brown hair. Her eyes were brown as well and matched her appearance.

"Aren't you a tad bit young to be in college?" Frank asked the girl. She looked up and managed a smile that made Frank blush; he hadn't realized just how gorgeous the girl looked at it caught him by surprise when she looked at him.

"I've gotten that a lot," she replied with an air of confidence as if she had explained this to people plenty of times. "I'm actually eighteen just like you are Frank Zhang," she added.

Frank dropped his books out of surprise that the girl knew his name.

"How…how do you know my name?" he managed to ask bewildered. He started to back away from the girl out of fear.

"You have no reason to worry Frank, I'm not going to hurt you," she assured him. She placed a hand on his shoulder to try and help him calm down but Frank swiped it away.

"Oh really, and why in the hell would you expect me to believe you?" he spat.

The girl glanced around the school's campus as if she were expecting trouble before she diverted her attention back to Frank. "I'm like you Frank," she said in a sudden hushed tone. "I have special powers that were given to me by my family that makes me unique." Frank's eye got wide as he realized what she was saying but his expression quickly went back to a skeptical one to hide his true feelings.

"You don't know anything about me or my family so how about you pack up your stuff and get lost," Frank hissed and turned to walk away but the girl cut him off.

"I know you have endured a lot Frank but there are people out there just like you and me and our country needs us desperately right now," she pleaded.

Frank narrowed his eyes at the pleading girl and continued trying to walk past her. The girl matched his pace and walked alongside him.

"I'm a daughter of Pluto," she informed him as they walked towards the Commons area of the campus. "He's the god of the Underworld and riches."

As much as Frank wanted to get away from the girl, he had to admire how confident and persistent the girl was. He shook away the thought as he continued walking.

The girl continued rambling on about some military base in New York until Frank finally had enough.

"I made a promise to my mom that I wouldn't join the army until I got my degree and even if I did agree to this "Demigod Army" you're talking about, what's in it for me?" Frank spoke angrily at the girl.

She took a deep breath as if she had rehearsed her next words and continued speaking, "I can promise you that your mother would want this and as soon as this war is over, you can go right back to your normal life and you won't hear from the government ever again," she answered.

Frank glanced around at his surroundings taking notice on how happy everyone looked. He saw some fraternity brothers playing Frisbee and having a blast and he saw a couple lying on a towel sprawled out on the Commons area grass as a nearby radio played music. Everything seemed so peaceful and Frank had grown accustomed to it but he still had that craving in his gut to go overseas and fight for his country.

Frank managed a sigh as he returned his attention to the girl who was still standing there waiting for his decision.

Frank opened his mouth to respond when he was interrupted by angry shouts coming from a newly formed angry mob.

They were only a couple of yards away from Frank and the mystery girl as they faced down more National Guardsmen.

The National Guardsmen had come better prepared this time as they were armed with rifles, shotguns, and tear gas.

Frank and the girl started to back away from the confrontation until Frank's heart dropped when the soldiers trained their weapons on the crowd and opened fire.

It was unlike anything Frank had ever seen as he saw his fellow students getting cut down by gunfire. The crowd quickly dispersed to get away from the violence and Frank started to turn and run when he felt a sharp pain from his side. Frank looked down and with a look of horror he saw blood stained through his shirt from a gunshot wound.

Frank's vision started to swim, as he got nauseous from the wound. He glanced around for help and noticed the girl he'd been talking to was lacking flat on her stomach in a puddle of her own blood. Frank looked back over where the soldiers were and saw that they were advancing in their direction with their guns still raised ready to kill anyone who opposed them. Frank needed to get himself and the girl to the hospital fast.

He slowly stood back up grimacing in pain before picking the girl up and standing her up on her feet. Her wound was much more worse than Frank's as she had taken a bullet directly to her chest.

Frank weaved her arm with his and started carrying her away from the scene of all the chaos.

There were several times that Frank wanted to collapse from all the pain, he felt as if someone was using a blowtorch on his side and they weren't letting up either.

They'd made it to the edge of campus before Frank realized that the nearest hospital was several blocks away, they'd never make it in time. Frank cursed himself for not thinking about that sooner until he felt a strange feeling from his body.

He looked down at his arms and noticed that his free arm had started growing feathers. Frank was shocked initially until he remembered that his grandma told him a long time ago that he would bear his family's gift once his mind was prepared. This must've been what she was talking about.

Frank then closed his eyes and quickly focused his energy into completing the transformation.

When he opened up his eyes he glanced down and where his feet were supposed to be he saw a pair of talons. Frank had transformed into one of the beasts that he remembered studying in mythology class, the griffin.

Once Frank's initial euphoria at his newfound powers had passed, he felt the searing pain from the bullet wound return. He quickly scooped up the girl and started flying towards the nearest hospital.

Frank felt majestic as he soared through the air feeling the breeze ripple through his feathers.

"Stay focused," he thought to himself. "Remember the task at hand."

Frank continued flying until he spotted the local hospital much to his relief.

Unfortunately, Frank's relief didn't last long as a local news helicopter clipped him with one of it's steel blades sending him careening towards a nearby building.

Frank barely had time to shield the girl he was carrying from harm before he smashed through the glass of a third story window. Frank's form returned to normal as he landed on his stomach in a pile of glass. Frank's vision started to darken as he glanced up and saw several people around his age standing around a table looking over at him in awe.

One of them, a girl with blonde hair in princess curls, came running over to help him and the girl that Frank had lost his grip on when they crashed through the window. Frank looked up at the girl and they last thing he saw before he blacked out was a pair of stormy grey eyes looking back at him in amazement.

* * *

When Frank regained consciousness, he was laying on a hospital cot in an abandoned room. He tried to sit up but the searing pain from his gunshot wound came back with a vengeance and Frank had no choice but to lie back down.

"You were quite the trouble to get a hold of, Mr. Zhang," a voice spoke up from the darkness.

"Who are you and what do you want with me?" Frank asked the darkness.

A uniformed man in a wheelchair emerged from the darkness and made his way to Frank's bedside.

"My name is Lieutenant Chiron and I'm pretty sure our friend Hazel has already informed you about our little army," the man answered in a calm and friendly tone that made Frank a little more comfortable.

Frank stared at Chiron for a brief moment before deciding to speak.

"Is she okay?" Frank asked with concern.

Chiron nodded his head with a smile and Frank took a big sigh of relief. He felt better knowing that the girl, Hazel must've been her name, had survived such a horrific injury such as a gunshot wound.

Chiron wheeled his way towards the door but stopped once he got near and turned to look at Frank with a caring expression. "I'll let you continue to rest until you make up your mind on whether or not you will join us or not," he spoke as he opened the door and left the room.

Once the door closed after Chiron left Frank started pondering on what Hazel and Chiron had told him. He had already been promised that he could go back to his normal life once the war was over. He also had to remember what he promised his mom in that he wouldn't join the army until he finished college. He continued weighing his options before he stood up from his bed, ignoring the pain from his side, and dressed himself with some clothes that Chiron had provided and started looking around the floor for Chiron himself.

He stumbled down a hallway until he came upon a door heard voices from behind it.

"We don't know how powerful he could be and where his loyalties lie," a female voice spoke.

"Annabeth, I understand your concern but after all the trouble Hazel has gone through and after speaking to the boy myself he is an absolute necessity for the army," Chiron's voice responded.

Frank wasted no more time and pushed the door to the room open, much to the surprise of the people Frank recognized from earlier.

Frank stared around the room at everyone until he made eye contact with Chiron.

"Where do I sign up?" Frank asked Chiron who managed a smile before motioning Frank into the room to join the other demigods.


	6. Chapter 6

Fortunate Son of the Sea God

 **A/N: Hey guys here's another chapter and I'm going to really try to get a schedule going with my updates from now on starting with my next chapter moving forward. I'll try to post a new chapter every Tuesday unless something pops up and with my A.D.D/A.D.H.D that could be pretty much anything! Also, I've written down ideas for another fanfic set after the HoO that I might post if this story gets more positive feedback. Finally, to answer any questions about the last chapter, it was based around the infamous Kent State shootings that happened in 1970. While my story's timeline and the timeline of the war will be completely different, there will be nods to actual events that occurred during the Vietnam War.**

 **Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing besides my O.C**

 **Enjoy!**

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Chapter 6: Voodoo's Child

Hazel POV

Hazel wished that she could be happy at all the money she was making.

She was sitting behind a table outside her apartment that was covered in all kinds of precious metals. Rubies, diamonds, and gold lined the table with different price tags attached to them indicating that they were for sale.

You may be wondering to yourself, what could be so bad about making money of off rubies and diamonds?

The problem was that these weren't ordinary precious gems. They were cursed and whoever placed their hands upon them was doomed immediately. Some people were cursed to an early death while some suffered other fates such as the loss of a close friend or family member. The gems themselves were summoned from the earth itself due to Hazel. She discovered that if she concentrated, she could summon just about any rare gem from the earth and while the curse didn't affect her directly, she felt empathy and sorrow for those who touched the stones.

Hazel had tried desperately to keep her ability a secret from anyone until a couple of months ago when her mom found out. Her mom immediately sought to cash in on the gems much to the protest of Hazel. She warned her mother of the curse but her mother, who was in dire financial strain, ignored the warning and threatened to punish hazel severely unless she complied. Hazel complied and started setting up a stand to sell the gems.

At first, business was booming because the curses hadn't had time to take affect. As time passed, people became more and more suspicious of the gems as the curses started happening. Hazel and her mom were forced to move several times until settling in New Orleans.

Hazel was minding the stand as she usual taking in her surroundings. The weather was gorgeous in New Orleans today. The sunshine lit up the bustling streets of the city as people meandered from shop to shop. Off-duty soldiers could also be spotted rather easily among the crowds in their uniforms. Hazel was aware of the war over in Vietnam but hadn't really paid much attention to it, she was more worried about avoiding angry customers asking for refunds for their curses. Some just wanted their money back but others wanted Hazel's blood as reparation for their curses which terrified Hazel. She couldn't help that the gems were cursed and that her mom was so greedy for money. Hazel remembered when her mom was a sweet kind woman who cared more about Hazel's well being rather than money.

Hazel 's thoughts were suddenly interrupted when a man slammed his fist on the table startling Hazel.

"You the one who sold me those rubies a few weeks ago?" the man growled.

The man's appearance was terrifying for the smaller Hazel; his hair was buzzed down like the soldier's Hazel spotted earlier. He was wearing a tattered olive drab military uniform that looked like he had come straight from the front lines. His expression was seething with anger as Hazel sensed that he clearly wasn't here to make another purchase.

Hazel managed to gulp down her fear before opening her mouth to respond.

"Yes…yes sir," she managed.

The man started to respond before I heard a familiar voice behind me.

"Hazel, is this man giving you trouble?" her mom asked.

Hazel didn't answer and shifted her gaze to her feet, her past experiences with these damn gems indicated that this was about to get ugly.

"Trouble?" the man asked through gritted teeth. He planted both his arms on the table and in one swift movement he swept everything off the table.

Hazel's gaze remained at her feet as she could sense her mom's distress at the situation as well. This man had received a curse and he wasn't leaving without some kind of reparation.

"I bought one of those rubies to give to my wife before I left for the war," the man started to explain with his angry expression remaining unchanged.

"I get over there and everyone besides me and my buddy gets wiped out by an ambush and I get captured and thrown in a prisoner of war camp," he continued talking but Hazel noticed tears were starting to form in the man's eyes.

"They beat me and my buddy senseless asking for information but we wouldn't budge, so they cut his head off and threw me in a pit of muddy water and disease to rot," he added stopping occasionally to wipe tears from his eyes.

"I lost track of time before I was finally rescued and allowed to go back home to my wife and kids but I found out that she got another man and wants a divorce." He finished as his body was shaking from all the pain and suffering he had endured. Hazel felt sorry for the man, all he wanted was to get something special for his wife and now he was practically alone with no one to keep him company.

Hazel could feel a lone tear make its way down her face, she wanted to do anything to help the poor man but she knew that there was no way to help him besides give him his money back.

"We can give you a refund…" her mother started to say as the man looked up at her with a face of pure anger.

"A refund?" he asked.

"Yes sir," Hazel's mom responded with a tremble in her voice.

This surprised Hazel, her mom had always had a strict no refund policy that angered a lot of people and Hazel guessed that she didn't want to make this man any more angrier by not helping him out in some way.

The man looked down and shook his head.

"A refund can't bring my fellow soldiers back, a refund can't bring my best friend back, and it sure as hell can't bring my wife back!" he yelled in response.

"I'm sorry sir but that's all I can do for you I'm sorry," Hazel's mom responded. She was trying to be calm yet firm to the man but Hazel could sense the fear in her voice.

"No, you just don't get it do you?" the man asked as he reached for his pocket.

Suddenly, he whipped out a pistol and took aim at us.

Hazel gasped in surprise before she raised her hands in surrender.

"These gems are all cursed and I'm gonna put an end to any more sales from you two," the man said coldly with the gun aimed at Hazel's mom.

Hazel was absolutely terrified, she wanted to close her eyes and wake up from this nightmare but she knew that wouldn't help, she was in a living nightmare.

"Hazel, my dear…run," Hazel's mom whispered keeping her eyes on the gunman.

"Mom…" was all Hazel could manage in response due to all the tears streaming down her face.

"I'm sorry I was so tough on you child but you have more to live for, run while you still can," Hazel's mom responded with her own set of tears.

"No…I won't leave you mom, not like dad," Hazel spoke the last part softly.

"Don't you dare mention him!" Hazel's mom snapped as she directed her attention to Hazel despite having a gun pointed at her.

It was at this point that Hazel noticed out of the corner of her eye that a crowd had gathered to see what the commotion was.

"What's going on here?" a man from the crowd spoke up.

The gunman kept his focus on Hazel and her mom as he ignored the man's question.

"Dear god, he has a gun!" a woman squealed.

Sensing the man's next move, Hazel mom pushed her into the apartment and slammed the door shut.

Hazel banged on the door begging to be let out,

"No mom please!" she begged as she kept banging on the door but her mom had blocked it off with something.

Hazel continued her efforts until she heard gunshots ring out from outside the door and her heart dropped at her realization at what had happened.

Before she could mourn he mother's death, someone started banging on the door from the outside.

"Let me in you little brat!" the muffled sound of the man's voice yelled.

"Leave me alone!" Hazel shouted before she ran up to her room and slammed the door shut. Hazel quickly ran to her mom's bedroom closet and grabbed her shotgun. Hazel's mom had kept it hidden in case of emergencies and this definitely qualified as an emergency.

Suddenly, Hazel heard the sound of footsteps from the hall outside her mom's room. Hazel quickly dove under the bed to hide from the footsteps hoping that she hadn't made too much noise to alert them to her location.

As the footsteps got louder, Hazel started loading slugs into the shotgun as fast as she possibly could. She wasn't going to go down without a fight, for her mother's sake.

Hazel continued loading ammunition into the gun until suddenly the footsteps stopped.

"Maybe he's giving up," Hazel hoped to herself.

The footsteps started getting quieter until they disappeared completely and Hazel managed a sigh of relief.

Before she could climb all the way out from under the bed though, she heard new footsteps that made their way over to the room.

Hazel quickly tried to get back in her hiding spot but it was too late as the door opened but instead of the crazed gunman from earlier, it was a guy around Hazel's age with pale skin, messy jet black hair, and green eyes that reminded Hazel of the sea. He had on old worn out blue jeans, Converse, and a dirty white t-shirt.

Hazel simply stared at the guy in awe before he coughed to try and kill the awkward silence.

"My name's Percy," he said with a sincere smile. He offered his hand to Hazel who reluctantly took it and lifted herself out from under the bed.

"Sorry about your loss, no one deserves to lose a parent like that," Percy apologized with a caring expression.

"Thank you," Hazel responded. It had been a long time since someone had been this nice to her before. She started to get suspicious about what Percy's true intentions were.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to swindle you or anything like that," Percy assured Hazel as if he had read her thoughts.

"How did you…?" Hazel started to question before Percy interrupted.

"There's no time, the police will be here shortly, you need to come with me and I'll explain everything if you don't like it you're free to go," Percy spoke anxiously.

Hazel was still confused but decided that she couldn't stay here especially with a murderer on her tail.

"Ok, let's get out of here," Hazel said.

Percy nodded his head and motioned for hazel to follow him as they took off running out of the apartment and into the streets.


	7. Chapter 7

Fortunate Son of the Sea God

 **A/N: Here you go guys another chapter. This one was pretty tough but I think I'm quite satisfied with the final result. Also, I would like to encourage everyone to leave a review from now on. I always read them and I try to use them to help improve the story. Lastly, for those who have read what I've written so far for my first fanfiction: 115: The One, I really don't know what to do with that story. I originally had a direction for it that I thought was pretty solid but after a few chapters I just didn't feel good about it, unlike this story. However, I won't give up on it just yet, I'm going to try and figure out a new direction for the plot and hopefully it works.**

 **See ya next chapter**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing besides any O.C**

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Chapter 7: Light My Fire

Leo POV

"Leo, you have a customer!" yelled Leo's helper waking him from his nap. Leo sat up off his back and immediately banged his head on the undercarriage of the car he was napping under. Leo was a mechanic at a repair shop in Houston, Texas and business had been slow that day when he decided to doze off.

The reason he chose to sleep underneath one of the cars was just because that's where Leo felt the most comfortable, around machines. He didn't know why but ever since he was a small child he had always held a fascination in how things work and whether or not he could take something apart and put it back together good as new.

Leo laid his head back down and slowly slid out from under the car while muttering a few swear words.

His assistant, Betty, stood waiting for Leo at the entrance of the shop with a man in a wheelchair. As Leo made his way over to them, he became suspicious of the man's true intentions. He was wearing a full military uniform complete with nice shiny shoes and a prim and proper haircut. Leo was barely able to make out what his name was from the front of the uniform

 **CHIRON**

"What a stupid name to give your child," Leo thought to himself as he walked over and shook the man's hand. Leo didn't immediately realize that his hands were still greasy and dirty from working on cars all day but Chiron didn't seem to mind. Leo noticed that while Chiron did have a kind expression upon his face, he had multiple bags under his eyes as if he hadn't slept in weeks.

"So what brings you into Valdez repairs today mister?" Leo asked. "I'm assuming you don't need your oil changed or anything," he added as he casually pointed at Chiron's wheelchair.

Chiron chuckled at Leo's sense of humor. That was something Leo had always considered himself to be blessed with, his sense of humor. While it did get Leo sent to the principal's office all the time when he was in school, it helped out in many other ways. Whether it was trying to cheer himself or others up or trying to get a bully to laugh in order to weasel himself out of a fight.

"I'm here to speak to a Mr. Valdez, I'm assuming that's you correct?" Chiron asked.

"Right you are my friend, can we talk here or would you rather it be in private in my office? Leo asked motioning towards a door on a nearby wall with a glass window that read:

 **LEO VALDEZ**

 **HEAD MCSHIZZLE**

"What's a McShizzle?" Chiron asked with a confused look.

"Why it's-", Leo started to explain.

"-nothing to worry about right now," Betty interrupted before she pulled Leo aside to where Chiron couldn't hear them.

"I don't like this Leo are you sure we can trust this guy?" Betty asked concerned.

Leo glanced over her shoulder to look at Chiron; he gave Leo a polite smile.

"I'm sure," Leo whispered before returning to Chiron.

"So where do you want to talk?" Leo asked with his signature mischievous smile that had gotten him into trouble so many times, he wasn't sure why he was doing it now but here he was.

"Your office will be fine," Chiron responded politely as he and Leo walked over to the door.

Leo let Chiron in first before making eye contact with Betty; she gave him a nervous look that Leo dismissed by returning a smile and then shutting the door.

"Quite a mess you got here Mr. Valdez," Chiron spoke as he glanced around the room. The office looked as if a tornado had blown through as documents were scattered all over the floor, some weren't legible at all due to the numerous amount of grease stains. The desk was covered in all sorts of trash, tools, and more paperwork.

As messy as everything was, it was perfect in Leo's opinion; his severe A.D.H.D and A.D.D agreed as well.

"Please just call me Leo," Leo said to Chiron.

Chiron nodded in response before he managed a sigh.

"Did I do something wrong?" Leo asked concerned. He had inherited this repair garage from his mom and he tried to do his best to keep it running as best as he could for her sake but it was tough on Leo sometimes. He didn't mind working on the cars, it was the other stuff that was tough to him like handling insurance and calculating people's bills and stuff lie that. Leo wouldn't have minded doping everything for free but he desperately needed the money to keep the place operational.

Chiron gave Leo an assuring look before responding, "Oh no its not that, I'm actually here to recruit you to join a special new division in the army."

This totally surprised Leo, the Army? He had never given any thought to the idea of going overseas to fight in any war.

What also caught him off guard was the special division part, what made this division "special" and why was he being asked to join it? Hopefully they hadn't learned about his special power that he had kept secret since the accident with his mom.

"Ok, wow," was all Leo could manage in response.

"I understand it's quite a lot to take in," Chiron spoke up sympathetically.

"Yeah…no shit," Leo grumbled to himself.

Chiron managed another deep sigh, he really didn't seem to be totally supportive of this whole thing by the way he's acting right now.

"Leo, I know you've experienced a lot of grief because of your ability but this is an opportunity to try and use it to bring happiness to you and others," Chiron tried to assure him.

"How do you suppose I'll do that huh?" Leo snapped at Chiron. "Just throw some fire at some angry Viet Cong (Communist guerilla soldiers) and presto! They suddenly love America!"

Chiron just stared at Leo with a sad look in his eyes, this just made Leo even angrier, he thinks he understands what it's like to not only lose someone you love and understands you, but to be the one responsible for it.

Leo thought back on the day a few years ago, it was just like any other day when he walked into his mom's garage. She was working under the hood of an old truck when Leo tapped on her shoulder to get her attention.

"How's mama McShizzle handling it today?" Leo jokingly asked her.

She turned around and gave Leo a smile, she was covered in grease and sweat from working all day but that didn't bother her.

"Oh, it's just great my little Mr. McShizzle," she responded as she rubbed Leo's messy curly hair before giving him a kiss on the forehead.

"Mom, I'm not a little kid anymore, you can take it easy with the smooching," Leo complained. He truly loved it, but he didn't want to look like a child in front of the other mechanics at the garage.

His mom managed a chuckle despite how tired she was, "You'll always be my little Mr. McShizzle," she said to Leo before embracing him in a hug.

Leo would've loved to let this moment last forever until he heard a man cough trying to get their attention.

Leo turned around and saw a deliveryman with a cardboard box in front of him. For a second Leo thought the box was floating before dismissing it as his imagination.

"Package for Leo Valdez," the deliveryman spoke up.

"Um, that's me," Leo responded with a confused tone, he hadn't received any kind of package since his Tia Callida had mysteriously sent him a box full of knives. His mom quickly got rid of the box but Leo was still curious about it.

"Sign right here," the man said, as he pulled a pencil and a slip of paper out of seemingly nowhere.

Leo hesitantly signed the slip of paper and suddenly the paper and pen vanished out of his hands.

"Who…?" Leo started to ask before the man interrupted.

"Oh, don't worry I'm just a messenger," he assured before giving Leo a wink and walking out the door.

"Hey wait!" Leo called out as he ran out the door after the mystery man. Leo pushed open the door and looked around the surrounding street but saw no signs of the mysterious man. Leo shook his head in disbelief before walking back into the shop.

"What was that all about?" one of the mechanics spoke up.

Leo simply shrugged his shoulders before going over to help his mom with the truck they were working on. They labored on joking around the whole time until it was dark outside.

"Hey Leo, can you get my other wrench out of the toolbox in my office?" his mom asked.

"Yeah no problem," Leo responded as he walked over to his mom's office.

"Be careful I haven't replaced the lights in there so it will be dark," she warned.

Leo nodded his head to let her know he understood before he walked over to the office and opened the door and shut it behind him. He was greeted with complete darkness in the room. He had a faint idea where everything was but Leo was still nervous. One time he tripped over a toolbox and nearly broke his nose.

He grimaced at the thought of that happening again. He needed some kind of solution to make his way through the darkness. Leo started tapping his foot in thought before snapping his fingers at an idea, he would ask his mom if she had any matches.

Leo turned to go back out the door before he noticed a faint light and a warm sensation from his fingers. He looked down at his hand and nearly had a heart attack, his right hand's fingers were engulfed in flames!

Leo quickly shook out the flames without too much of a problem.

"Where the hell did that fire come from?" Leo thought to himself. He started pondering on what had just happened before coming to a quick realization.

Leo snapped his fingers again, on cue his fingers were engulfed in flames but it didn't burn Leo. He examined the flame for several minutes before remembering why he was in this room in the first place. Leo used the light of the fire to search through his mom's special toolbox that she keeps in her office before finding her special wrench.

He mad his way over to the door leading out of her office and shook the flames off of his fingers before walking out of the room and back over to his mom.

"Here you go," Leo spoke up before he handed the wrench to his mom who went back to working on the truck.

Leo anxiously stood behind her thinking about what just happened and whether or not he could tell her without terrifying her.

"Mom, can I show you something?" Leo asked excitedly.

"Sure, what's up?" she responded as she diverted her attention away from her work.

"Okay, watch this," Leo responded as he shut his eyes and snapped his fingers. Leo could feel the warm feeling again in his fingers as he waited for his mom's stunned reaction he was met with screams. However these weren't screams of excitement or joy, these were screams of absolute pure terror. Leo opened his eyes and looked at his mom who was cowering away from him in terror.

"What's wrong?" Leo asked confused.

"FIRE!" his mom screamed in terror as she pointed at the ground below Leo's feet. Leo looked down and his heart sank, he was standing in a pool of gasoline and somehow his feet ignited without him noticing creating a fire underneath him. Leo tried to step out of the fire but to no luck. Leo looked around for any kind of solution and then he saw something that would scar him for the rest of his life.

Extending from the pool of gasoline was a trail of the flammable liquid and it lead straight over to the truck his mom was working on. The fire was already quickly making it's way over to the truck and before Leo could warn his mom the truck exploded in a burst of flames engulfing everything in the area around it.

Leo shielded his eyes from the blast and was surprisingly left with not a single scratch on him. He let out a sigh of relief before he noticed his mom's burnt body lying down near him.

"Mom?" Leo croaked out.

She wasn't moving at all as tears started to form in Leo's eyes.

He collapsed into the fetal position and cried his eyes out until the fire department showed up and had to force him away from his mom's body.

Leo shuddered at the memory as he returned to the present day where Chiron was still talking to him.

"Leo, I'm really sorry for your loss but this is what she would want for you to do," Chiron spoke up trying to reassure.

Leo didn't respond but glanced over at several pictures he had taped to his wall that contained memories of him and his mother. One was off her trying to give baby Leo a bath with little success, another was of them riding in one of the go-karts at the local theme park, the last one Leo saw was right after she gave birth to him and she had him cradled in her arms with an unknown man next to her. Leo had never met the man but he had assumed it was his dad.

Tears started to well up in Leo's eyes at all the memories but he quickly wiped them away trying to look tougher than he actually was.

"Your father is a good man Leo," Chiron spoke up again.

Leo looked over him with a hopeful look in his eyes, "You know my dad?" he asked Chiron. Chiron simply nodded his head in response.

Leo took a seat in his chair behind his desk and opened the top drawer. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and removed one from the others. Leo snapped his fingers igniting a small flame and used it to light the cigarette. He inhaled a bit before exhaling a puff of smoke into the air. He kicked his feet up on his desk knocking off some garbage as he continued taking puffs of the tobacco smoke.

"Well, what do you say?" Chiron asked.

Leo kept his eyes locked on the ceiling fan spinning above as he burned through his cigarette.

"Aw hell, yeah I guess so," he grumbled. "Just give me a minute to reflect on some things real quick I'll meet you outside," he added.

"No problem," Chiron spoke before exiting the room.

Leo extinguished his cigarette on an ashtray before taking a look around his dirty office.

"I'm sure gonna miss this place," he spoke to himself before he walked over to a closet in his office and opened it and pulled the box out that he got the day his mother died.

Leo couldn't make out much of the writing on the box except for something about Olympus or something. Whatever, he tore off the packaging tape and took the lid off the box.

Leo glanced inside before pulling out the contents; he was now in possession of a new tool belt to go along with his many other ones…yippee.


	8. Chapter 8

Fortunate Son of the Sea God

 **A/N: Sorry for such a big delay in the update this time guys! I've been having some personal issues recently and my A.D.D./A.D.H.D. has been running rampant. I can't guarantee that the updates will be more frequent from here on out but hopefully they will. I'm also working on my other story, Power's Legacy, and I would greatly appreciate it if you guys gave it a read and/or a review. Also, I would absolutely love it if someone could draw an emblem for the Demigod Army! If anyone is interested send me a PM or just leave a review and I'll try to give the person who sends it in an O.C. in either this story or my other story.**

 **Thanks a million!**

 **Disclaimer: I own** **absolutely nothing besides my O.C.**

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Chapter 8: Heartbreak Hotel

Reyna POV

Reyna absolutely despised her job.

She recently immigrated to Miami from Puerto Rico and once she set foot on American soil, she was on the lookout for a job. The best she could do was working at the front desk of a local hotel. The job paid all right and Reyna needed the money but it almost wasn't worth all the flirty men that passed through on a daily basis.

Reyna had grown adjusted to the constant flirting and knew how to handle most of the men but occasionally there would be some men that really knew how to grab Reyna's attention. They usually were sailors who were very muscular and figured out how to lay on the charm.

Despite this, Reyna had remained single and had never really been in a substantial romantic relationship her whole life. Sometimes this bothered her, as she was now eighteen years old. Her sister, Hylla, didn't see the problem that Reyna faced as she didn't see the point of having a relationship in the first place.

Reyna remembered the last time they got coffee a few weeks ago.

"So how have you been sister?" Hylla asked as she took her seat across from Reyna.

"Just the same as I've always been, the job is rough and almost everything else has been just fine," Reyna replied.

"Almost?" Hylla asked raising an eyebrow in concern.

Reyna slumped into her seat and pulled out a cigarette and lit it and after inhaling and exhaling some of the smoke, she continued.

"I've just been so lonely recently sister and I know I have you still but I still feel as if there's something missing in my life," she sighed.

Hylla mumbled something under her breath about how she disapproves of Reyna smoking but Reyna ignored it. She wasn't proud of her habit either and she had been hoping to quit eventually but nothing had happened yet.

"I know how you feel about men sister, but that might be just what I need" Reyna spoke up.

Hylla shifted uncomfortably in her seat, she and Reyna had endured a lot of pain since they traveled to America. They both used to work at a local spa that was close to the beach before it was destroyed in a fire. When Hylla found out that a man started the fire on purpose she had been bitter with them ever since. Reyna hadn't been too keen on them either at first but the constant bombardment of flirty comments each and every day had changed her opinion.

"Reyna, you don't have to worry about me, you can do whatever your heart desires I'm not going to interfere with any romance you may have…unless they break your heart then there's no guarantee that I won't hunt them down and destroy them," Hylla said with a smile.

Reyna simply rolled her eyes before sharing a laugh with her sister and giving her a hug.

"Excuse me ma'am?" a male voice spoke up bringing Reyna back to the present, she still had a job to do!

"How can I he…" Reyna started to speak before she looked up at the source of the voice. It was a sailor who was dressed in his sailor's uniform, but that's not what caught Reyna's attention. The guy looked almost god-like. His face was perfect with a chiseled chin that made him look a little rough around the edges. His hair was dark brown and was neatly trimmed as well. What struck Reyna almost immediately were the guy's eyes, they were a hypnotic light blue that put her in a trance.

Reyna would've kept staring at the man until he spoke up again.

"Everything all right ma'am?" he asked.

Reyna blushed deeply when she realized she was staring and averted her eyes from the man.

"Sorry about that sir," Reyna said with a tiny squeak in her voice.

"Get a hold of yourself Reyna!" she angrily thought to herself, "you can handle this."

The man smiled at Reyna before speaking up, "I need a room for the night, can you make that happen?" he asked kindly.

"Oh dear gods, he's sweet too?!" Reyna practically screamed in her head. Most of the guys who hit on her were self-centered jerks who didn't deserve any of her attention, but this guy was the direct opposite.

"Of course I can, sir," Reyna replied happily as she reached over and grabbed one of the keys for the rooms.

She picked one of the nicer rooms for the gentleman and handed him the key.

After graciously accepting the key, the man reached for his back pocket for his wallet.

"How much do I owe you?" he asked.

"Uhhhh…" was all Reyna could manage as she was still awestruck at how handsome and kind the man was.

Reyna shook her head snapping herself out of her trance before she gathered her thoughts.

"It's fifty dollars for one night," she spoke.

The guy counted out some bills in his wallet before handing the cash to Reyna who almost snatched it out of the man's hand due to her excitement.

She counted out the money to be sixty dollars, "Sir, do you want the ten dollars back?" Reyna asked seriously.

"Keep it, consider it a tip for the excellent service," he replied with a genuine smile and a wink that nearly made Reyna faint.

She couldn't believe it but she's falling head over heels for a man, a feeling that she has never experienced in her life!

Before Reyna could think on her new love some more, the ringing of the bell on the desk interrupted her.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for a miss Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano, is she here?" a male voice asked.

Reyna returned her attention to the front desk and saw an older looking man in a wheelchair, he also had on a military uniform.

"That's me, what can I help you with?" Reyna asked politely.

The man reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope and laid it on the counter in front of Reyna. It had big bold letters on it that weren't hard for her to read even with her dyslexia.

TOP SECRET

Reyna cautiously picked up the envelope and opened it and pulled out some of the documents it contained.

Reyna scanned over what the papers said and couldn't make out much, what she could decipher though was that Reyna was being asked to enlist in a special division of the army for "demigods". Reyna had no clue what a demigod was and laid the documents on the desk in front of her and returned her attention to the man in the wheelchair.

"You must be out of your mind if you want to put a loaded gun in my hands," Reyna said with a slightly apprehensive tone.

The man let out a sigh, "I can assure you that we have considered nearly all the possible risks with this operation," he said in a calm tone.

Reyna was still unsure about what to think of all this, she still didn't even know what a "demigod" or "half-blood" even is.

"Your mother will be so proud of you," the man spoke up again.

Reyna's eyes got wide, her mom? She hadn't even thought about her. Reyna and Hylla had been raised by their father under the assumption that she had died giving birth to Reyna. Now she hears that not only is she alive and well, she also is aware of situation and hasn't done anything to help? That didn't sit well with Reyna at all and now all she wanted to do was find her mom and give her a piece of her mind.

Reyna looked at the man in bewilderment but now she knew what she has to do.

"Hey boss!" Reyna yelled into the room behind the front desk.

Her overweight chauvinistic boss made his way over chewing on a cigar.

"What the hell do you want Ramirez?" he asked angrily.

"I quit!" Reyna shouted in reply before making her way around the counter and over to the man in the wheelchair.

He looked up at her and smiled, Reyna returned then gesture and shook the man's hand.

"By the way, my name is Chiron," he said as he motioned for Reyna to follow him out the rotating front door of the hotel.

They made their way out and walked a few blocks before arriving at a military jeep that was parked on the side of the road.

Reyna spotted a blonde haired girl who was sitting in the driver's seat along with a black haired guy who was sitting in the back. They both shifted their gaze to Reyna and Chiron as they approached the jeep.

"It's about damn time," the black haired boy said with a yawn. The blond haired girl rolled her eyes in response.

"We've only been sitting here for ten minutes, Seaweed Brain," she said.

The black haired guy or "Seaweed Brain" as the girl called him simply shrugged his shoulders and scooted over to make room for Reyna to sit beside him.

"Go ahead and hop in," Chiron spoke up as he maneuvered himself into the passenger seat "We have a lot to discuss."


	9. Chapter 9

Fortunate Son of the Sea God

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 **A/N: Okay...before you guys leave me bad reviews for not updating consistently I wanted to apologize...I've been really lazy since my last update but now that I know how to update off my phone hopefully I'll put out some new chapters as quickly as I can. I won't just put out rushed ones like my last chapter I'm going to put in the work to make sure you guys get the best possible story. Because you are all so awesome! Big s/o to those who've stayed loyal to me because I'm such an awful updater. On another note, this will probably be my toughest chapter to write because I've had to do a lot of thinking on how to portray Calypso but I feel this is the best possible way. Enjoy!**

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Chapter 9: All You Need is Love

Calypso was so glad to be off her island.

Ever since she'd sided with the Titans during the first Titan War, she had to stay on that damned island of Ogygia hoping to one day be free.

One day, as she was tending her garden as she always did, a man in a wheelchair who called himself Chiron rode up to her island in a strange looking boat. The boat was an olive drab color and was covered in the new mortal weapons that were invented after her exile called "guns" as Chiron had explained to her. She also noticed some white letters on the side of the vessel. They spelled out:

 **ARGO II**

Chiron rode up to her island and got off the boat in a wheelchair before switching to his true centaur form.

"Chiron...it's been a long time," Calypso spoke as Chiron made his way towards her.

He gave her a genuine smile before motioning her to walk with him along the shore of the water.

"No one has ever sought out my island before," she spoke to Chiron as they walked.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures," Chiron said with a sigh.

Calypso gave him a confused look before her eyes widened.

"Does it involve my father and the Titans?" she asked.

"Yes and no," Chiron answered.

"What do you mean?" She asked still confused.

"The mortals have gone to war again only this time the gods fear that there might be more at stake than just a disagreement over Democracy and Communism," he said.

"What is communism and democracy?" Calypso asked. She didn't recognize the new mortal governments that existed in the 20th Century and was still confused.

"That doesn't matter right now, what matters is the gods are worried that Kronos is going to use this war as a chance to rise again," Chiron said.

Calypso immediately froze in her steps, she hoped that she wouldn't have to pick sides ever again between the gods and Titans but it looks like all chances of that had been thrown out the window.

"Chiron..." Calypso started but Chiron raised his hand for her to stop.

"I understand it's a lot to take in but the gods need your support, they've agreed that if you decide to help, you will be granted temporary freedom from your prison," Chiron assured her.

Calypso looked around her island thinking about Chiron's proposal. She couldn't just abandon her family again but then again, look what supporting them had gotten her.

Calypso eventually agreed to help the Olympians and Chiron took her away from Ogygia to the United States.

From there, Chiron had dropped her off in a place called Savannah, Georgia and told her to get acquainted to the modern world before all the demigods were gathered for the war in Vietnam.

Calypso was currently wandering around until she approached a mortal watering hole that Chiron described as a "bar". Calypso walked in and took a seat at the bar. The bartender made his way over to her to serve her.

"What'll it be miss?" he asked her kindly.

Calypso wasn't sure what to say until a man plopped down at the seat next to her and spoke up.

"She'll have the same as me, a White Russian, and put it on my tab" he said.

The bartender nodded at the two before preparing the drinks and placing them on the counter in front of them.

"You're an awfully pretty lady to be here by yourself," the man said with an air of confidence.

Calypso may have been thousands of years old, but she could tell that this man was hitting on her and she wasn't interested. She still decided to be polite and try to let the guy know she wasn't interested.

"Oh, I'm just wandering the city," she said not giving the guy hardly any attention.

The man was unfazed and continued to lay on the charm to no avail.

"Well, a pretty lady like you could use a swell looking guy like me don'tcha think?" He said.

Calypso let out a snort of laughter and got up from her seat to leave.

"Oh, please I'll do just fine without you," she said in a mocking tone. Usually, Calypso tried not to be so direct with her feelings but this guy was clearly as thick-headed as it gets and that was the only way to get through to him.

"Hey!" the guy yelled angrily. He shot up out of his seat and grabbed Calypso's arm as she tried to leave.

"No one treats Frankie Dennis like that and gets away with it!" He yelled as Calypso struggled to get loose from his grip.

" .go," she growled.

"What are you gonna do about it?" Frankie said with a sneer.

The guys who must've been Frankie's friends burst out in laughter as Calypso struggled to break free from his grip.

"Alright, you asked for it!" Calypso yelled as she reared back her leg and delivered a brutal kick to Frankie's family jewels.

"Oof!" Frankie gasped before he let go of Calypso and doubled over in pain.

Everyone except for Frankie's goons winced at the kick before going back to whatever they were doing.

"Get her!" One of the goons yelled out as they made their way over to get revenge for Frankie's loss of his dignity.

The next couple of seconds was a blur for Calypso as she dodged punches and threw them at the goons taking them out one by one until she stood over them in victory.

"Aren't you gonna do something about this?" Frankie yelled at the bartender who simply chuckled.

"How about you and your goons get your no good trouble-making asses the hell out of my store before I call the cops," he said.

Frankie opened his mouth to give him a response but his "loyal" goons were racing to get out of the bar as fast as they could.

Frankie hesitantly followed but turned around to give the bar a closing remark.

"This ain't over," he said.

"Oh really?" Calypso said. "Because I think it is." Calypso gave him an evil look that scared Frankie and he high-tailed it out of there as everyone in the bar cheered and some raised their drinks in celebration as well.

Calypso was smiling and then she heard the sound of the bartender clapping.

"Wow, Chiron was right about you, you'll fit right in with us Calypso," he said.

"How do you know my name and how do you know about Chiron?" She asked.

The guy stopped clapping and made his way over to Calypso.

"Sorry, the name's Leo Valdez and Chiron wanted me to keep an eye on you to make sure you were adjusting to everything, Sunshine" he said.

"Don't you ever call me Sunshine," Calypso yelled.

Leo just grinned in response, "Oh, this is gonna be fun," he said.


	10. Chapter 10

Fortunate Son of the Sea God chapter 10

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 **A/N: Ayyyeee I'm back my loyal subjects! This is the next to last chapter of the demigod's introductions. The next one will be my O.C, David, who is a son of Demeter from Alabama. So without further ado, here's everyone's favorite son of the God of the Dead!**

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing besides any O.C

* * *

Chapter 10: Sympathy for the Devil

Nico stood alone in the desert outside of Las Vegas. The desert wind blew by him ruffling his black hair but he paid it no attention. He was standing in front of the makeshift grave he'd dug for his sister, Bianca.

She had been stabbed in a mugging not long after she and Nico made it out if that cursed casino. Nico felt a lone tear make its way down his cheek but he wiped it away. He needed to be strong for her.

Nico let out a sigh before he made his way back to the city. Nico really didn't care much for the city itself and that was due to the Lotus Casino.

He lost track of all the time he had spent there with his sister after they were dropped off but the noticeable changes to the city once they finally made it out indicated that at least twenty years had passed.

Nico walked down the street before he passed an electronics store with in the window. A small crowd had gathered and we're listening to Walter Cronkite talk about an incident at Kent State university.

"Reports are coming in now about several Ohio national guardsmen firing into a crowd of demonstrators on the campus of Kent State university. Four have been confirmed dead while several others have been killed." Cronkite spoke with a somber expression.

"More paperwork for dad," Nico muttered to himself as he kept walking.

Nico and Bianca had been told after they left the Lotus Casino that they were children of Hades, the Greek god of the Underworld. Nico hasn't spoken to him yet but he figured that was due to the war the mortals were fighting over in Vietnam. All the fighting and the resulting casualties must have had made life tough for Hades.

Nico continued walking the streets of Las Vegas until he found his apartment. He made his way inside and immediately crashed on the couch. The apartment was quite nice, he had been given the keys to the place by the stranger who helped him out of the Lotus Casino.

Nico was about to fall asleep on the couch when he heard the sound of the window opening from the bedroom.

"Someone is trying to break in!" Nico frantically thought to himself as he hid among the shadows.

The thief snuck into the main room of the apartment and that was the furthest the ever got as Nico snuck up behind the robber and tackled him to the floor. Nico couldn't get a good look at the perp's face because he had a ski-mask on.

After a brief struggle, the thief managed to wiggle out of Nico's grip and escaped back out of the window. Nico scraped over to the window before sticking his head out to give the robber a warning.

"IF I EVER SEE YOU HERE AGAIN YOU'RE DEAD YOU HEAR ME?!" Nico yelled out the window before shutting it and locking it.

Nico woke up the next morning and crawled out of bed and made his way over to the shower. After getting cleaned up, Nico slipped on some blue jeans and a Rolling Stones t-shirt and made his way out of his apartment.

Nico didn't read like being out in the sun that often but he had to make an exception for going to visit his sister's grave daily.

Nico made it to the spot and was surprised to see three people there waiting for him. One was an old looking man in a wheelchair with a soldier's uniform on and the other was a girl with tan white skin and black hair that was tied into a braid that hung over her shoulder. The last person was another girl but she has dark skin and curly brown hair.

"Who are you people and what are you doing at my sister's grave site?" Nico demanded.

They turned around and each of them had on an expression that was mixed between sorrow and understanding. This angered Nico, he didn't need these strangers sympathy for his sister's death.

"Your sister was very brave Nico," the man in the wheelchair spoke up making Nico's hairs stand up on end.

"H-how do you know my name?" Nico stammered out.

"Do not worry, son of Hades, we are here as friends with a proposition to give to you," the girl with the braided hair spoke up.

Nico's eyes narrowed in suspicion, he didn't trust these three people but he might as well listen to their proposal.

Nico nodded his head and motioned for them to continue.

"I'm sure you've heard about the war over in Vietnam and how it's affected everyone here in America," the man in the wheelchair spoke as the dark-skinned girl shuddered as if it had affected her already.

"I've heard about it from the news," Nico responded.

The man in the wheelchair nodded his head in understanding before continuing on, "We've received that you have already discovered your Greek parentage and we could use your help with the new demigod army we're assembling to go and fight for the United States over in Vietnam."

After he finished, Nico couldn't help but let out a chuckle of laughter.

"You can't be serious," he spoke in between chuckles.

"I swear it on the River Styx," the man in the wheelchair spoke. Thunder rumbled in the distance and that shut Nico up.

He let out a sigh, "Oh alright I'll join just give me a moment to pay my respects before I leave."

"That's fine and my name is Chiron and these two are Hazel and Reyna," he said pointing at the other two demigods who gave Nico smiles of acknowledgement.

They made space for Nico as he walked over to Bianca's grave. He kneeled down and spoke quietly so that the others couldn't hear.

"I promise I won't get hurt, Bianca, and tell dad I said hello," he said before he rubbed his hand over the ground that her body was buried under.

Nico brushed away a tear before standing up and returning his attention to the others.

After a nod, they started to make their way over to a jeep that was parked not that far away.

"This is going to get interesting," Nico thought to himself as he hopped into the jeep.


	11. Chapter 11

Fortunate Son of the Sea God chapter 11

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 **A/N: So excited to introduce my O.C. to you guys! This is also the last of the "introduction" chapters. Sorry it's taken so long to get to the real action but I really wanted to not only show the war, I also wanted to show life back home with all the anti-war movements and the way people were living. Also, check out Together Forever by Yoshi208. You'll spot a familiar character in it.(it's totally not David) I also have a bunch of other ideas I want to experiment with in the future. One of them is a Western/cowboy A.U. with the Seven and another is a mobster drama set in Chicago. Give me some feedback in the reviews if you would like to see this.**

 **See you guys in Vietnam!**

 **Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing except the story and my O.C.**

* * *

Chapter 11: Sweet Home Alabama

David sat in his granddad's rocking chair, leaning back and forth with his trusty shotgun in his lap. David just got back from basic training and it was hell to say the least.

It all started when that smart ass Percy Jackson decided to go and soak the drill instructor on the first day. The strange part was that Percy was one hundred percent dry. Percy didn't stay around much longer after that, David spotted some guy in a wheelchair talking to him before he left. Apparently, he was transferred to some "special" unit that David had never heard of.

Things at boot camp only got worse after that, the grunts had to endure intense training that pushed them to their limits. David originally came into camp with a lot of confidence, he was a star football player for his local high-school in Alabama and was the most athletic guy on the team. He was drafted after his senior year and sent to Parris Island. David was furious that he couldn't go to college to play football, it had been his dream ever since he could walk to play college football for his favorite team, the Auburn Tigers. As a result, David often didn't give it his all throughout training and this led to several of the tough instructors riding him pushing him to the extreme.

In the end, David eventually got with the program and became the most lauded soldier in his platoon and David outwardly embraced it. The truth though was that David wanted to part in it and just wanted to get back to his farm in Alabama. There were only two places that David felt at home, on his dad's farm and on the football field.

David's last training exercise was the last straw for him, they were doing a live-fire exercise with M-16's, rocket launchers, and other weapons. He had been focusing on getting through the drill as he sat in a foxhole when he heard a cry for help.

He peeked out of his hole and saw a fellow soldier had been shot in the foot. David ran out to save him when he heard a man yell near him.

"Rocket! David look out!" A soldier yelled.

David saw a rocket from a rocket launcher coming right for him and before David could leap out of the way, a bunch of thick vines sprouted out of the ground protecting him for harm.

After that incident and when he finished training, David was allowed a brief visit home. He had got home that day and after sharing a beer with his dad, David volunteered to keep an eye out for any critters or thieves.

So there David sat, his overalls hanging loose off his body as he scanned the fields around the house. The crickets were chirping as they always did and the moonlight illuminated everything for David to see.

David continued rocking back and forth in his chair until he heard the sound of crops rattling. Someone or something was moving through their crops.

David shot up out of chair and checked to make sure his trusty shotgun was loaded before he stepped off the porch towards where he heard the noise.

"I'm giving you to the count of ten to show yourself before I show you true southern hospitality!" He yelled as he trained his gun at the crops.

"1...2...3...4...," David started counting until a familiar man in a wheelchair emerged in front of him.

"Put the weapon down David there's no need for violence," he said in a surprisingly calm tone.

David was confused, this was the guy he spotted talking to Percy before he left, what could be want with David?

"Who the hell are you and what are you doing on our land?" David growled with the gun still aimed at the man in the wheelchair.

The man let out a sigh, "My name is lieutenant Chiron and I've come here to recruit you for a special division in the army," he said.

David hesitantly lowered his gun, but kept his gaze on the man. "What makes you think I'll join this army?" David said with a growl. He didn't trust this guy one bit.

"I've brought company in case you had doubts," Chiron said as he let out a whistle.

Suddenly, eleven people around David's age all emerged from the crop field. Each one having a different appearance. (A/N: I'm not describing them all I'm pretty sure you guys know who they are) David took a step back in fear and raised his gun again, aiming it at several of the intruders.

"Get the hell away from me!" He shouted.

"Woah dude! No need for violence! We're your friends!" a guy with curly brown hair and an elvish face yelled.

"Friends?!" David spat back.

Chiron started to move closer but David pointed his gun at him again freezing him in place.

"David, you must calm down, we aren't going to hurt you," he tried to assure him.

"I don't want anything to do with you or your damn army Chiron!" David yelled. He was still scarred from his brush with death during training camp. He didn't want to go back.

Another one of the eleven stepped forward except this one was a girl with black hair that was braided over her shoulder. She had on olive drab fatigues and David could read the name on the front of her uniform,

 **Ramírez-Arellano**

David immediately pointed his gun at her but she continued slowly walking towards him. Her expression was caring and full of sympathy.

"Stay back! Or I...I'll shoot!" David yelled as his lip trembled.

"David...," the girl spoke.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" David screamed so loud it frightened some birds nearby.

David went to pull the trigger but he hesitated, his whole body shook. He was scared, terrified even at what had happened to him. He was emotionally damaged and the girl knew that.

David dropped the gun and fell to his knees and buried his head in his hands as tears started to form. The girl sat beside him and placed an arm on his back.

"It's ok, David, we can take care of you, I promise," she said in a soothing voice that helped calm his nerves.

He looked up from his hands and got a good look at the girl. She had obsidian black eyes that were friendly and made David feel warm inside. He wrapped the girl in a hug and cried into her shoulder. For some reason, she reminded him of his mother whenever she would comfort him as a young kid.

"Are you sure about this guy Chiron? It looks like he's been through hell," a blonde haired guy asked.

"I'm more than sure Jason," Chiron answered.

David detached himself from the girl and gave her a nod of appreciation before standing up to face the other demigods.

He took a deep breath to try and clear the negative thoughts he gathered from the incident at training camp before speaking.

"I'll join your army Chiron, on one condition," he said.

"What would that be Mr. Everson?" Chiron asked.

"If anything happens good or bad while we're over there...I can choose to return home whenever I want," David said in a stern and confident voice.

"Very well, Mr. Everson, I grant you permission to drop out whenever you choose to no matter the scenario," Chiron answered after a split-second of thinking.

"Then count me in," David said.

Chiron smiled before pulling out a cigar and lighting it. After he exhaled the smoke he turned his attention to the other demigods still standing behind him.

"You heard the man, 2nd Platoon has been formed, you are all to report to Fort Half-Blood immediately for training!" He ordered.

The demigods groaned before making their way back the way they came into the crop field.

"David, Reyna, you two come with me," Chiron ordered them as they followed him.

"It's time to kick some ass," he said with an evil smile.


	12. Update

**Sorry guys for the lack of updates recently but my life has gotten pretty rough lately. I just started back classes for my sophomore year at community college and I'm balancing that with my job tutoring kids with their writing. This is tough especially with my severe A.D.H.D/A.D.D. I've also had a very close friend lose a loved one and I've been trying to support him. I've also lost one of my math teachers from high-school who helped me pass math. Leave your support in the reviews/PMs it would be greatly appreciated. Again I apologize for the lack of updates but hopefully I'll post one soon but if not you guys will hopefully understand.**


	13. Chapter 12

Fortunate Son of the Sea God chapter 12

A/N: Not much to say besides the fact that I am back from the dead and ready to give my followers a new chapter! I recently got a new laptop and while it's not up to the quality of Deadalus's laptop it gets the job done. Anyways, back to the action.

Chapter 12: War...What is it Good for?

Percy P.O.V.

Percy could hardly believe what had happened. He had gone across the country recruiting demigods left and right for the Half-Blood Army or the H.B.A. During this time, he and Annabeth had grown much closer. Ever since the incident in Manhattan they had bonded and had become good friends. The same could be said for most of the other demigods as they stood in their barracks at Fort Half-Blood. The only person Percy wasn't really on good terms with was the new guy, David Everson, a son of Demeter. It wasn't because of their personalities but rather it was just how new David was. They had flown straight to the base on Long Island from Alabama and hadn't had much time to talk. Percy decided to walk over to him and strike up a conversation.

"Hey there David, the name's Percy," he said as he walked over to David. David looked up from his bunk and Percy got a good look at his eyes. They had shades of green in them like Percy's but they were a more emerald shade rather than the sea-green that Percy had. David was also sporting a shaved head like everyone else in their platoon.

"Nice to meet ya Percy," David responded as he stood up and shook Percy's hand. He had a firm handshake that Percy took note of. He also noticed David's accent, he had a thick Southern drawl that Percy had never heard before in his life. Percy opened his mouth to speak again but was interrupted by a loud yell.

"Alright you sorry excuses for soldiers…line up!" a man yelled. Percy quickly assumed this would be the guy who trained them. He looked a few years older than all of them and had pale blue eyes to go with his short blonde hair that was hidden under his drill instructor's hat. Percy got into line standing side-by-side with the other demigods with Annabeth to his right and Piper to his left.

"I am Gunnery Sergeant Castellan," the man barked as he walked down the barracks eyeing up all the new recruits.

"My goal is to turn your sorry asses into killing machines and-" Castellan barked before he was interrupted by a brown haired dude with glasses who looked our age as he handed him a sealed envelope. The sergeant opened the envelope and pulled out its contents. He read it over before shooting the other guy a confused look. The other guy shrugged his shoulders as Luke continued yelling.

"Corporal McCann has brought it to my attention that there are some other things I must teach you as well," Castellan yelled.

We all gave each other confused looks, something was off here.

"One of these things is to always leave reviews on fanfictions and to read the author's notes," Castellan said in a condescending tone.

Before anyone could say anything in response, Castellan took off outside and told us to follow. We all shuffled out and he led us to a trail where we started running.

After a while, Percy started to lag behind and Castellan took notice and started yelling in his ear.

"You're pathetic Jackson!" he yelled in Percy's ear.

Percy tried to ignore the yelling and focus on running but his legs felt like jello, if he kept this up he would collapse from exhaustion.

Just as Percy's vision started to get dark, Annabeth and David took notice of Percy's struggles and fell back behind the group and linked their arms over Percy's shoulders helping him continue.

Castellan gave them a nod as he increased his speed and focused on the main group.

"You know…you guys didn't have to do this," Percy said in between gasps of air.

Annabeth managed a small laugh in between pants of air as David shook his head with a smile.

"No one gets left behind, Kelp Head," David said with a smirk.

"That includes you Seaweed Brain," Annabeth added as Percy managed a smile. He'd only been in the army for less than a few weeks and he'd already made plenty of friends.

* * *

After several weeks of training, the demigods had grown really close and Percy even considered them his family. He and Annabeth were always paired up for exercises and that was always interesting. Percy remembered the time they did hand-to-hand combat and Annabeth ended up judo-flipping him over her shoulder and pinning him to the ground with her knee. Normally, he would get upset that a girl beat him up so easily but with Annabeth, he was perfectly content to let her whip his ass.

Today, they were assigning roles to everyone in their platoon. The biggest surprise was that not only Percy was named platoon leader, Annabeth was named as second-in-command.

"Well well Jackson, looks like Chiron found it fit to put you and Miss Chase in charge," Castellan said with a grin. After he and Annabeth got their roles, everyone else was given theirs.

David was named platoon medic due to his knowledge of plants and herbs and which ones could be used for medicine. Leo was their mechanic and was also assigned the flamethrower, this made everyone shift a little knowing how dangerous Leo's fire abilities already were. Giving him a flamethrower was like giving more sugar to a small child.

Thalia was assigned sniper duties which was to no one's surprise, the girl could hit a bullseye from miles away. Jason, her brother, gave her a playful nudge which she returned with a smile.

Piper would be our negotiator because of her charmspeaking abilities. Percy was extremely glad she was on their side for this war, she had already proven her usefulness the times she shortened a few of their exercises. She still couldn't convince Luke however which confused all of us.

The rest of the assigned roles were pretty basic and Percy could sense that they would be departing for Vietnam soon. He had grown tired of his training and while he didn't care much about what the government wanted, he wanted to make sure that everyone in his platoon made it out of Vietnam alive.

* * *

It was almost as if Percy blinked and he was now sitting on a boat heading for Vietnam. He was leaning on the railing with his gaze out to the sea when he sensed that someone was standing next to him. Percy looked over and saw that it was none other than his Wise Girl. She still looked as beautiful as that fateful day in New York when Percy summoned water to protect them from that molotov. Her blonde hair had grown back some since it had been shaved off and it stuck out from underneath her olive drab soldier hat. It didnt have it's length back yet and it made Annabeth look like a tomboy.

"What's on your mind Seaweed Brain?" she asked with a grin.

Percy smiled and reached an arm around her and pulled her closer. He was lost in her stormy grey orbs and he couldn't help but smile. He leaned in to give her a peck on the lips when a whistle interrupted them. Percy looked over and saw Nico and Thalia standing there looking at them with huge grins plastered on their faces. He quickly pulled himself away from Annabeth and felt his face flush from embarrassment.

"How about some damn privacy?" Percy asked with a growl.

Thalia rolled her eyes, "You didn't exactly pick a _private_ place Kelp Head," she said.

Percy's face got even redder as realization dawned, they were on the deck of the ship in full sight of everyone.

"Whatever," Percy muttered as Annabeth reached over and gave his hand a squeeze.

"Another time," she said as she leaned in and gave Percy a quick kiss on the lips before running off. Percy's face might have been as red as a tomato but he didn't care. He looked over to Thalia and Nico who were still standing there but now their mouths hung wide open in shock. This made Percy smile as he walked towards the lower decks.

"Maybe this won't be so bad after all," he thought to himself as he hoisted himself onto his bunk and quickly fell asleep.


	14. Chapter 13

Fortunate Son of the Sea God

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 **A/N: You guys can go ahead and excuse me if there are any errors in this chapter. My favorite sports team, the Auburn Tigers, barely won a game in overtime today and I'm still trying to recover. Anyways, this is when the story really picks up as the demigods get their first taste of true combat. Also, I've been writing several other stories and I will absolutely NOT let them interfere with this story. You guys have been so loyal and nothing warms my heart than to see the positive feedback. Even though 90% of it is courtesy of NoTearsFalling. Regardless, I love you guys and I hope you enjoy this!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing besides the O.C and the storyline.**

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Chapter 13: Goodbye my Darling, Hello Vietnam

Reyna POV

The first thing Reyna noticed when they planted their feet on the beach of Vietnam, was the mosquitoes. The little bastards are everywhere. Reyna would need to remind herself to get some bug spray.

Right now, the demigods were riding in the back of a big truck that would take them to their base of operations before getting sent out into combat.

Reyna held her M-16 close to her as she sat next to David who looked over and gave her a comforting look. She and David had bonded ever since their first encounter back on David's farm. It was tough to explain but Reyna just felt comfortable around David and they trusted each other. Reyna knew that would come in handy on the battlefield especially.

David reached over and rubbed Reyna's back to try and comfort her.

"Hey, it's gonna be alright, I promise," he said.

Reyna gave him a nod before turning her attention to the other demigods. Everyone had settled in nicely with each other and some romance had eve started to blossom between some of the troops.

Percy and annabeth were the most obvious and it came to no one's surprise that they were put in charge. Percy was very loyal and tough and Annabeth was also tough but she had wisdom worthy of a daughter of Athena.

As we got closer to the base, we passed several soldiers walking along the road. They looked at us with a thousand yard stare. A look that haunted Reyna.

Many soldiers had bandages covered in blood as well. Many of the demigods shifted uncomfortably as realization was starting to dawn on many of them. Many of them had only seen glimpses of the war from T.V and now they were seeing it up close.

Soon they would be getting up even more close and personal with the hell that is war.

* * *

After getting a briefing from Chiron, the demigods went out on patrol with a mortal unit of marines to give them assistance. Percy stood at the front with Annabeth at his side. They were both armed with their M-16s which most of the demigods carried along with there Greek/Roman weapons. Reyna had her Imperial Gold sword attached to her back. Percy probably Riptide in his pocket. Chiron had given him his weapon along with the others.

Annabeth had a celestial bronze dagger attached to her hips along with some grenades that could take out monsters and mortals as well. Leo had made them on the ship and after nearly blowing his arm off, the demigods agreed that they would be perfect.

David had a M-16 just like Reyna except he had a grenade launcher attached to it. Reyna would hate to be the poor bastard on the receiving end of it. He also had a celestial bronze machete attached to his back that made him look like the world's deadliest farmhand. He also had a logo painted on his helmet that he had told her was the logo for Auburn University. Apparently, David's dad wanted him to go there for school for agriculture so he could help out on the family farm. While David loved the school and the football team, he felt the need to serve his country and he had joined the army. David noticed Reyna staring at her and he gave her a smile. Reyna couldn't help but blush before diverting her attention to the other demigods.

Thalia was carrying her M-14 with a sniper scope attached to it. She also had two hunting knives on her belt as well as her bow on her back. Artemis had personally trained her to be an excellent marksman and Reyna had seen her shooting bottle caps from several miles away. Safe to say she knew what she was doing.

Her brother Jason wasn't too far behind with Piper next to him. Jason and Piper had shown signs of a budding friendship but Reyna could sense that there was something more to it. Jason had always been there to help Piper out during different drills while they were in training camp. Piper had her trusty dagger at her side and Jason had his gladius in coin form in his pocket.

Hazel and Frank were also with them. Hazel had her spatha hanging from her scabbard. Reyna couldn't help but scowl at seeing the sword. It was meant for calvary soldiers and Hazel didn't have a horse to ride. She was carrying a 12-gauge shotgun that she had painted gold to give it a more Roman look which Reyna could appreciate because of her Roman heritage with Bellona. Frank was walking near her with a massive M60 light-machine gun in tow. Frank also had some writing on his helmet.

 **R.I.P. EMILY ZHANG**

Reyna felt a pang of sorrow, Frank's mother was a medic during the Korean War and her camp had taken a direct hit from a mortar shell killing her and many others. Ever since then, Frank had been itching to join the army but his mother had wanted him to go to college first. Chiron had sent Hazel to recruit him and nearly got herself killed in the process during the Kent State protests. They had told her the story of how Frank had carried her from danger as an eagle and Reyna felt some admiration for his bravery. He was definitely a son of Mars, the war god.

Bringing up the rear was Calypso and Leo. Leo had fastened a flame thrower to his M-16 and combined with his fire abilities, he was one of the more powerful demigods out of the platoon. He had a mischievous look on his face that made Reyna nervous whenever she saw it.

Calypso accompanied him and Reyna had to admit that she looked absolutely gorgeous even with her caramel hair cut and tucked under her helmet. She had the standard M-16 in her hands but she had a Celestial bronze bayonet attached to her gun. She also had a Celestial bronze dagger attached to her hip.

Last but not least was Nico di Angelo. He brought up the rear and had his Stygian iron sword hanging from his side. He had the standard issue M-16 like most of us. Reyna had a special bond with him somewhat like her bond with David but she felt like her relationship with David was something more but Reyna wasn't quite sure.

Reyna was interrupted from her thoughts by a loud explosion that shook the earth. Everyone immediately hit the deck to take cover. The snap of gunfire rung out from the jungle as the Viet Cong opened fire.

"CHARLIE!" Percy yelled out from the front as he unloaded his M-16 at the direction from the gunfire was coming from. **(A/N: Charlie is the code name for Viet Cong)**

Reyna crawled up towards the front of the group before she aimed her rifle towards the enemy and squeezed the trigger. The gun recoiled hard into her shoulder but Reyna paid it no attention and kept her gun trained forward. She opened fire until she heard the click sound of her gun needing more ammunition. She reached down to her belt and grabbed a new clip. She unloaded the empty one before jamming the new one and cocking the gun.

"We need to get around their flank!" Percy yelled.

He looked over to David, Reyna, and Annabeth who were next to him.

"You three are with me, everyone else provide covering fire on three!" Percy yelled as everyone nodded in agreement.

Reyna got her mind ready for the assault as Percy started the countdown.

"1...2...3!" Percy yelled as they sprung into action as the others opened fire.

Reyna took off running with the others as they attempted to outflank the attacking Viet Cong. Gunfire whipped by the group as they made their way over. There was a conveniently placed ditch that the group jumped in to take cover before they opened fire on the exposed enemy soldiers who were doubling back trying to retreat.

"Let em' have it!" Percy yelled as they cut down the retreating soldiers.

Reyna could hear the screams of the wounded soldiers and part of her felt some sympathy for them but that was quickly washed away when she realized that these men would not hesitate to slit her throat if given the chance.

The battle raged on for a little while longer until Percy gave the all clear signal and the demigods rose up out of the ditch. That was a mistake as one of the enemy soldiers that they had presumed dead pulled out a pistol and fired a shot at Reyna.

Reyna managed to shift a bit but the bullet grazed her thigh and pain exploded through her body. she wanted to drop to the ground but she managed to raise her rifle and put a bullet right in between the bastard's eyes.

"Medic!" Annabeth shouted as a mortal medic ran up to Reyna to help her. David also sprinted over and quickly ripped open her uniform to find the wound that was oozing blood.

"Not too bad, you should be fine," he said as Reyna breathed a sigh of relief.

Annabeth then smacked Percy upside the back of the head.

"You nearly got her killed Seaweed Brain!" she shouted at Percy who had on a remorseful look. Reyna knew he was the most loyal out of all of them and this could've devastated him if it had been worse.

"Don't get yourself worked up Percy, I'll be okay and no one could've noticed that the guy wasn't dead," Reyna said with an encouraging tone.

Percy simply nodded before walking over to speak with the other's.

They had dodged a potential disaster today on their first day and now the demigods were battle tested. They felt that they would be ready for anything whether it be monster or mortal.

David and Annabeth wrapped their arms around Reyna and helped her walk back to the base. She couldn't wait to get some rest.


	15. Chapter 14

Fortunate Son of the Sea God

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 **A/N: Sorry for the long wait in between chapters...again. I've been in a frenzy posting new stories and I'm helping my bud, Maelstrom J, with his story called Olympus Has Fallen so I'd appreciate it if you guys checked it out. I also had a very rough trip to Auburn this past weekend. I won't go into too many specifics other than the fact that I ended up in the emergency room. If you want more details feel free to PM me. Anyways, enough about me and on with the story!**

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Chapter 14: War...What is it Good for?

Piper POV

After the skirmish last week, Piper and Jason had been assigned to help out the Air Calvary in a search and destroy mission. Chiron said that command had received intel on a N.V.A. base that was supplying weapons and supplies to the Viet Cong in the area so he ordered Jason and another demigod of his choice to accompany the assault. Jason picked Piper almost immediately which caught her off guard but she accepted with a salute.

They were currently sitting in a Huey helicopter on the launch pad as they blades started to spin up ready for flight. Piper took a deep breath and clutched her rifle close to her chest. Not only had she never flown before but she was nervous about the mission. They were going to be dropped deep behind enemy lines surrounded by the enemy with hardly any cover.

Jason must've noticed Piper's worried expression because he placed a reassuring hand on Piper's shoulder.

"Don't worry Pipes, we'll get through this together, I promise," he said with a smile as the helicopter lifted up off the ground.

Piper gave him a nod before looking out as the helicopter started it's trip towards the objective followed by several other helicopters. Soon, they had left the base behind and all Piper could see out the door for miles and miles was the lush jungle scenery. Piper wasn't used to seeing so much jungle due to the fact that she was born and raised in the bustling metropolis of Los Angeles. The beauty of the jungle was occasionally dotted with areas of dead trees. These were no doubt from the bombing runs that were constantly going on. Sometimes, Piper could often hear the explosions in the distance from her bunk back at base and it kept her up at night.

Piper turned her attention to her fellow demigod Jason who was inspecting his gear. Jason was practically the perfect soldier. His Roman blood made him very disciplined not only in combat but in how he carried himself. He never disobeyed orders and was always punctual.

He looked up from his gear and made eye contact with Piper. His eyes were as blue and stormy as ever yet they were not as wild as his sister Thalia's eyes. Jason gave Piper a smile before going back to his gear.

"One minute out, everyone et ready!" the pilot shouted from the front.

Piper and Jason and the other soldiers immediately got themselves ready. One soldier crossed his hand over his chest back in forth in prayer while another held a picture of what Piper could assume was his significant other. Piper felt a pang of sorrow for the soldier and the girl in the picture.

Piper was shaken from her thoughts when gunfire rung out from down below. One soldier manned the M60 machine gun mounted in the door and opened fire on the jungle down below. Piper couldn't make out where exactly the gunfire was coming from but she popped off some shots with her rifle.

The helicopter started to descend towards the clearing as Piper held her breath and continued to shoot into the surrounding jungle. The helicopter finally made contact with the ground and the soldiers quickly filed out and hit the dirt going prone trying to engage the enemy hidden in the jungle. The wind from the blades violently whipped at their backs but they paid it no attention.

A soldier with a sergeant patch on his shoulder rose up a little and opened his mouth to issue a command but before he could utter even a syllable a bullet passed right through his throat. The man clutched his throat and let out a strangled gurgling sound as blood poured out of the wound. Several more bullets ripped through his torso before his lifeless body collapsed on the ground in a heap.

"MEDIC!" Jason shouted.

Another soldier with a red cross on his helmet crawled over and placed his head on the man's chest searching for a pulse.

He solemnly shook his head in defeat and Piper could only stare at the body mortified. They hadn't been in combat today for more than five minutes and they had already suffered a casualty.

Jason immediately noticed that everyone was frozen in shock and took charge barking out orders to the soldiers.

"Concentrate fire on our left flank! Someone radio headquarters and tell em' we'll need air support!" he ordered.

Piper shifted her fire to the left flank and spotted the outline of a human figure. It was no doubt a bad guy but she hesitated on pulling the trigger.

"Piper! Take that son of a bitch out!" Jason shouted.

Piper shook her uneasiness away and aimed down the sights and focused them on the figure she had just spotted. She remembered her weapons training back on Long Island and held her breath and gently squeezed the trigger. The gun bucked against her shoulder as it always had but she kept in steady. Before she could blink, the figure clutched what looked like it's stomach and dropped to the ground.

Piper had just killed a man. She had committed murder. Granted, she knew it was allowed given the circumstances but it still rattled her brain.

"This is what you signed up for is it not?" she thought to herself.

Before she could think on it anymore she heard a thud sound on the ground a few feet away.

'GRENADE!" someone shouted.

Piper instinctively dug her head in the ground before the ground rumbled from the grenade's explosion. Piper checked her person for any shrapnel and let out a brief sigh of relief when she found out she was okay. A loud moan from a familiar voice suddenly cried out from nearby and Piper glanced over to where the sound came from and her heart nearly broke.

Jason was sprawled on the ground with several wounds from the shrapnel covering his body. He had taken the shrapnel to protect her.

"MEDIC!" Piper screamed as she fought back tears.

No one responded and Piper just lying there as bullets whizzed and cracked in the air over her head.

"Fine, I'll do it myself," she mumbled before crawling over to where Jason was laid down.

When Piper got closer she got a better look at just how gruesome his wounds were. He had a small cut on his lip that was dripping blood to go along with several other small cuts on his body. It was nothing too serious and Jason would be fine as long as he got some attention soon. Piper then remembered that she was carrying a canteen of nectar. She opened Jason's mouth and poured some of the godly drink into Jason's mouth. Jason swallowed and coughed a few times before the cuts started to fade.

"I'm gonna get you out of here Jason just...just hang on," Piper said as Jason nodded.

"Someone lay down some covering fire!" Piper yelled at some nearby soldiers. She laced a lot of her charmspeak into her words as a massive amount of gunfire rang out from the Americans. Piper also noticed that the gunfire from the jungle wasn't coming towards her and Jason anymore. Her charmspeak must've somehow gotten through to the Vietnamese which surprised Piper because she didn't yell in Vietnamese.

Piper then gave a quick prayer to the gods before standing up and interweaving her arm with Jason's. They ran into the jungle back the way they came.

The trip was long and tiring but eventually the two made it back to base panting and wheezing from exhaustion.

Jason unlinked his arm from Piper and turned to look at her. Piper noticed that the cut on his lip from earlier hadn't healed completely and was now a little scar.

"Thanks for saving my life," Jason said.

"I should be thanking you Jason, you took that grenade for me," Piper responded. Piper noticed that Jason had a blush on his face.

"Come on, let's get something to eat," Jason said changing the subject. "I think we've earned a decent meal after today."

Piper nodded her head before she and Jason walked over to meal tent walking side by side.

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Annabeth POV

Annabeth wished she had been better prepared for the treatment she would get from the men in the army who weren't used to seeing a young woman such as herself.

She was constantly given weird looks by the men. Some of them full of surprise that a woman was allowed to serve and some filled with lust or even both. She could understand why a lot of them were like that, they weren't used to it and some hadn't seen a female that wasn't Vietnamese since they had left to go serve.

Annabeth was currently in a tent full of captains and lieutenants that were strategizing for an attack on a hill that was supposedly vital to both sides.

"We are going to assault the hill head on and overwhelm them with our numbers," one man said as he pointed at the hill on the map.

Annabeth shot up angrily from her seat and interrupted the planning.

"That is suicide! You should send them around both flanks and take them by surprise," she said as she pointed at the map of the hill.

The man, whom Annabeth noticed had a captains patch on his shoulder, merely chuckled at her.

"That's exactly what they expect us to do, _girl_ , and no one asked for your opinion anyways," he said as many others laughed in agreement.

Annabeth rolled her eyes in frustration but kept her cool.

"They won't have enough men to protect their front and their flank," she said.

"What makes you think that? I've had scouts report to me that they've spotted activity in the surrounding jungle, we would be walking into an ambush!" the captain yelled.

Annabeth's inner Athena was telling her that the Viet Cong were setting a trap and they know that the Americans would try to avoid the jungle because that's where the Viet Cong excelled in combat.

Annabeth massaged her temples in frustration as she tried to convince the thick-headed mortal that he would be walking into a meat grinder.

"Please...listen to me...I-" Annabeth started before the captain cut her off. Annaneth had to obey orders even if they came from a complete dumbass.

"Send the word, we attack at dawn," the captain said as everyone nodded.

The following morning, Annabeth sat back away from the hill but had her eyes trained on it with a pair of binoculars. She hoped to Zeus that she was wrong about the attack and even though she hated being proved wrong, she didn't want to see too many American soldiers die.

Annabeth's hopes were immediately crushed as soon as the attack started. The enemy had taken up fortified positions on the hill and cut down many of the advancing American troops. She watched in horror as soldier after soldier was torn to pieces by the gunfire. Annabeth quickly grabbed her radio and tried to get someone on the other end who could call of the attack.

Before she could turn the damn thing on a stray bullet from the battle crashed into the radio immediately disabling it. Annabeth cursed in Ancient Greek before hopping in a jeep. She slammed her foot on the gas and tore through the jungle back towards base camp.

She quickly made it back to the camp and stormed into the command tent. She wanted to give that captain a piece of her mind but she brushed it aside for later. She needed to help those soldiers getting obliterated on the battlefield. Annabeth grabbed the radio and started communicating with the men who were attacking the hill.

"To anyone who can hear me, retreat off the front of the hill and double back into the jungle and attack their flank!" she commanded.

The captain stormed over and tried to take the radio away from Annabeth but she kicked him away into table covered in maps.

"You're disobeying a direct order Chase! I'll have you court martialed for this!" he warned.

Annabeth ignored him and waited anxiously to hear back from the radio if her plan had been successful or not. The gunfire could still be heard in the distance until it quieted down.

"All clear, Hill 937 is secured," a voice spoke from the radio.

"Roger that," Annabeth said as she breathed a sigh of relief.

She then turned around to look at the captain who was standing nearby awestruck. Before he could say a word Annabeth made her way over to him and punched him square in between the eyes knocking him out immediately.

"Athena always has a plan bitch," she said as she stepped over his unconscious form.


	16. New Series!

Okay this isn't an actual update but I just saw a video saying that there's going to be a new series from Rick called the Trials of Apollo. It's set after HoO and Apollo has been turned into a regular teenage boy. I'm sorry but I couldn't help but get this out there so you guys can see. I'm super excited right now my hands are shaking as I type this. Since this isn't an actual update I will be posting tomorrow so I hope you guys enjoy. Send me a PM or post a review on what you guys think! Also, I preordered Magnus Chase off of Amazon but won't be getting it till the 8th so I'd better not see any spoilers from you guys!


	17. Chapter 15

Fortunate Son of the Sea God

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 **A/N: Here's the update I promised and I hope you guys like it. I'm so sorry for the delay but writer's block took it's toll on my brain. Also, I have some prompts I wanted to run by you guys. One is this idea about an O.C getting separated from his mortal parents at a young age and then ending up on the run with Luke, Thalia, Annabeth, and maybe more! I also have multiverse idea that I would like to try along with a big idea I have based on Percabeth getting stranded on Mars like in the book/movie "The Martian." Leave a review or send me a PM what you think but if you'd rather not please leave a review for the story if you can! Thank you! :D**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing besides any O.C**

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Chapter 15: Stories from Vietnam

Frank POV

It's now official.

Frank HATES Vietnam.

Whether its the mosquitoes, the humid weather, or the threat of getting killed every day, everything was awful.

At least Frank had Hazel with him. They were currently clearing out tunnels that the Viet Cong were using to ambush American soldiers. Frank had an embarrassing moment earlier when he lept into one of the tunnels but got stuck on his rear-end.

"A little help?" Frank asked back to Hazel who was outside the tunnel.

She giggled a little bit at Frank's misfortune before widening the tunnel so he could fit through.

Frank couldn't help but chuckle at that now that they had gone through a few more tunnels. Everything had run smoothly so far but Frank kept on his toes. He was hoping for the best right now but he knew that bad things were bound to happen.

As if on cue, a bullet whizzed by frank and he instinctively hit the dirt of the tunnel.

He heard yelling at the end of the tunnel that he couldn't quite make out but it definitely wasn't english.

Frank practically buried himself in the dirt trying to protect himself as more bullets screamed over his head and flew down the passageway. Frank really wished he had Hazel with him right now.

Frank then mentally face palmed, he's carrying a radio right now and can easily radio for help.

"Hazel, the tunnel is full of V.C and I need some help!" Frank shouted as more bullets whizzed overhead.

"Ok, just give me a sec," Hazel's voice answered back through the radio.

"Ummm, I don' think I have a sec to give," Frank answered back uneasily.

Almost on cue, the ceiling of the tunnel rumbled and Frank could hear the sound of screaming as rock and dirt collapsed the other end of the tunnel and the gunfire stopped.

"You're welcome," Hazel said through the radio.

Frank couldn't help but chuckle before changing into a dog and quickly making his way out of the tunnel.

When he made it out he quickly found Hazel and she understood that he was in dog form and gave him a scratch on the head that Frank had to admit felt great. He let Hazel know that by giving her a happy bark. Hazel giggled in response and motioned for Frank to go behind a jeep so he could change back.

Frank gave her another bark before making his way over behind the jeep and changing back into his human form. He walked back over to Hazel and gave her a hug.

"Thanks for the assist back there," Frank said.

Hazel playfully nudged him on the shoulder, "Just repaying you for what you did back at Kent State," she replied.

Frank looked back to the memory. It was a disturbing one to look back on. Hazel almost died in Frank's arms...er claws when the military opened fire on the protestors.

Frank noticed a line tear make its way down his face before Hazel wiped it away.

"How about we go back to base? Maybe get something to eat" she said and Frank nodded before they hopped in the jeep and rode back to base.

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Leo POV

It was a great day to go out looking for mines.

Leo was accompanying some engineers who were out clearing minefields that the NVA had placed in the jungle to take out American troops.

They were out in a field with metal detectors searching for the mines.

Leo couldn't help but feel nervous today. He was without Calypso and his other demigods. They had learned that the president was actually a son of Athena and had arranged for the demigods, especially the more ones like Leo, to serve in the military as a unit and to advise mortal soldiers as well. Chiron had trained them to be careful with their abilities while with the mortals. He advised them to not use their abilities unless it was absolutely necessary. There had been several clear-sighted mortals who had reported "strange" incidents with some hellhounds and some empousa. That had been difficult to explain but Hazel and Thalia had learned how to manipulate the mist and had passed it off as some stray dogs and some VC women fighters.

Leo sat up against the jeep he rode in on casually smoking a cigarette. He had made sure to light it with his fire ability when the mortals weren't looking.

Leo took a few puffs of smoke letting the nicotine take its toll before returning his attention back to the task at hand. He walked over to where some mortal soldiers were using metal detectors to check for mines.

"Watch your step," one of them warned Leo who nodded in understanding.

"Any luck?" Leo asked.

One of the soldiers shook his head, "Haven't found anything yet but command said some N.V.A. retreated back through here a couple of days ago so they wanted to make sure this area is safe so we can roll the tanks in."

"Alright, I'll go grab my rifle and I'll keep an eye out for you guys," Leo said before returning back to the jeep and retrieving his gun. He grabbed some extra clips of ammo along with some fuel pods for the flamethrower. He did a quick inspection making sure the gun was cleaned and ready to go before cautiously walking back.

Leo had done some extra work on his demigod platoon's guns. The M-16's that most of them carried had been prone to jamming when they first got them. So he had taken each one and worked some of his son of Hephaestus magic on them to where they wouldn't jam ever again. He'd also painted some Greek and Latin writing on some of their guns.

On his gun, it read: φωτιά Μίζα, or "Fire Starter" in English.

On David's gun, it read: Νότια απόλαυση, or "Southern delight."

On Hazel's shotgun, it had: BUTIO lignum written on it in Latin instead of Greek which meant "Boom stick".

The last person to have some cool writing on their gun was Frank who had cibum MOLARIS written on his M60 machine gun. That translated to "meat grinder" which Leo could understand because Frank's machine gun could tear people apart.

Leo was shaken from his thoughts when one of the engineers signaled that they found something. Leo carefully eased his way over to the spot where the mine had been found and told the guy who found it to hold his gun while he disarmed it.

"Can you guys not stare at me while I do this?" Leo asked "I could do without the added pressure."

The soldier gave him a nod before looking away to cover him in case of an ambush.

Leo started to examine the mine itself. It was hidden very well in the dirt by a pile of leaves and twigs that would've hidden it completely had it not been for the mine detector. The mine itself was simply an old bomb from a past war with a pressure plate to arm it. Despite it's ancient age, the mine, if stepped on, could easily take out a whole platoon or more of unsuspecting soldiers.

He reached into his tool belt and pulled out some tools before getting to work. He first carefully disabled the pressure pad that activates the mine when stepped on. He then pulled the mine all the way out of the dirt to disable the bomb. Even though he had taken care of the means of activating the bomb, it was still capable of exploding.

Once the mine was extracted from the ground, Leo wiped some sweat from his brow before creating a small blowtorch with his finger. He carefully created a hand sized hole in the side of the bomb before reaching into it to cut off the detonator. He felt more sweat form as he anxiously fidgeted with the inside parts of the bomb.

After a few close calls in which Leo nearly killed everyone, Leo finally disarmed the bomb.

"All clear," He signaled.

Suddenly, a bullet whizzed by Leo's head and hit the guy who was holding his gun in the leg.

The guy fell to the dirt clutching his leg in agony as more bullets flew by.

Leo went prone and crawled over to the guy to see if he could assist him somehow. The guy started screaming from the pain before Leo put a hand over his mouth.

"Settle down dude, Dr. Leo is gonna make everything feel all better," Leo said trying to keep the guy at ease.

The guy gave him a confused look but he at least stopped screaming. He needed to remain calm in order to make things go smoother. Leo reached into his tool belt and pulled out some medical supplies. He ripped open the guys pants to reveal the wound. It wasn't too bad but it would still require immediate medical attention. Leo grabbed a syringe of morphine and jabbed it near the affected area.

The painkiller must've worked because the guy's shaking got less intense and he looked a bit more at ease despite the bullets flying over their heads.

"You're gonna be okay buddy," Leo assured the guy.

The guy gave him a hopeful look before Leo called for some help.

"I need covering fire!" Leo yelled to his comrades who were engaging the enemy.

They quickly adjusted fire as Leo got up and dragged the guy over to behind the jeep that was currently riddled with holes.

"We need to get this guy out of here now!" Leo yelled to a soldier who was taking cover behind the jeep.

The guy was yelling coordinates into his radio for what Leo assumed was an air strike.

"Tell command we need a medevac NOW!" Leo yelled trying to get the guy's attention.

The guy was still preoccupied trying to call in the airstrike so Leo grabbed the radio from him.

"Command, this is Private Valdez, I need a medevac at my location A.S.A.P! I have a man down and he needs attention, over!" Leo yelled into the radio.

"Private Valdez, we have a napalm strike inbound and hot, recommend you and the others get to a safe place before the show starts, over" the voice over the radio spoke.

"Roger that," Leo sighed into the radio before handing it back to the other guy.

Leo then tore off a piece of his uniform and wrapped it around the wound on the guy's leg to try and slow some of the bleeding down.

"We need to head back before the napalm gets here. I don't plan on spending the rest of this war charbroiled," Leo spoke up.

The soldiers then took off into the jungle with the enemy still firing at them. Leo took the wounded guy's arm and wrapped it over his shoulder and placed him into the passenger seat of the jeep. Leo then jumped into the driver's seat and gunned it back to base.

The sound of jet planes could be heard soon after as the napalm was dropped on the jungle behind them.

Leo looked over at the guy he'd saved and noticed he had a pistol in one hand and was still checking behind them for enemies. Leo just shook his head and continued the drive back to base. It would take more than that if those bastards wanted to put the ole McShizzle out of commission.

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Thalia POV

It's not everyday that a girl gets sent off to fight in a war. Thalia knew this as soon as she decided to join Chiron and his army of demigods.

Thalia was joining a patrol of soldiers as they made their way through the jungle. She brought up the rear of the group and had her trusty sniper rifle in tow. The patrol had waded through streams of water and other annoying obstacles before they came upon a small town with tall buildings and streets. The buildings were tiny in comparison to the ones back home but they were still a few stories tall. Thalia couldn't help but feel a little homesick a the thought of her home country. She had traveled all over the states with her band from New York City to Los Angeles and even to Alaska (Not a very popular place for punk music Thalia found out).

Thalia's happy memories were interrupted when the patrol came to a halt near the entrance to the town.

"Alright, we're gonna scatter into smaller groups to cover more ground is that clear?" the leader of the patrol barked from the front.

"Sir, yes sir!" everyone yelled back.

Thalia accompanied a few guys as they explored the town. She was immediately suspicious because the town was abandoned. Not a soul could be seen as they maneuvered through the streets.

"Stay on alert, they could be anywhere," one the men in her group whispered.

Thalia kept her gun up sweeping around looking for any potential threats. They were doing good until they met back up with the others.

"Alright, I'm going to radio back to command to tell them that we didn't encounter any resistance in the to-," the sergeant didn't even get to finish his sentence as he was cut off by a shot to the back of his head that immediately killed him.

"SNIPER!" Thalia yelled as she dove for cover behind a pile of debris.

Two more soldiers were hit by the sniper while the rest doubled back the way they came away from the sniper. Thalia was now all alone with just an enemy sniper to keep her company.

"Not like I needed help anyways," Thalia grumbled to herself.

She peeked over her cover trying to see if she could catch a glimpse of where the sniper was.

She was hiding in the middle of a four-way intersection with plenty of abandoned cars for cover so she started shuffling in between them trying to get a better look.

She eventually spotted an abandoned motel a few blocks down with some empty windows facing her direction. Thalia scanned the windows until spotting a faint silhouette. She picked up her rifle and propped it up on the hood of the car. She aimed down the scope of the gun and rescanned the motel until she found her lucky guy.

"You're mine," Thalia whispered to herself before holding her breath then gently squeezing the trigger. The gun recoiled hard against her shoulder but she kept her eye down sight. The bullet slammed into where the silhouette stood and Thalia could see it crumble to the ground.

She then quickly jogged over to the motel to make sure her target was dead. The door to the motel was locked so Thalia kicked it with all her might knocking it off its hinges.

Thalia slung her rifle over her shoulder and grabbed her two hunting knives. She had to be ready in case she had to use her knives in close quarters or even hand-to-hand combat.

Thalia searched the motel until she found what she figured was the room that the sniper was hiding in. She kicked in the door and entered the room only to see the most heart-breaking thing she had ever seen. She dropped both her knives in shock and heard them clatter on the floor but she didn't pay them any attention.

The sniper that she just killed was a girl no older than fifteen.


	18. Chapter 16

**A/N: Hello there everyone *dodges tomato**

 **Sorry for the long wait and I am so sorry to keep you guys waiting. Life has been stressful to say the least recently and trying to coordinate a collaboration between several authors hasn't made it much easier. That being said, I still feel ashamed of myself for keeping you guys waiting so hopefully I can get back to updating more often.**

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Going Up the Country

David POV

There was a definite side effect of being in Vietnam for as long as the demigods had been.

They'd been fighting practically non-stop for close to three months and it was obvious as David examined all his fellow soldiers as they gathered around a table to discuss an important mission with Chiron.

The room was filled of the smell of cigarettes and sweat from everyone as they anxiously awaited Chiron.

Percy had grown a lot since he first planted his boots on Vietnamese soil. His sea-green eyes that once seemed friendly and inviting now had a cold and merciless glare to them. David had heard people talk about the "thousand yard stare" and while he wasn't exactly sure what it was, he figured Percy definitely had it.

Annabeth wasn't much different as she sat in her chair sharing a smoke with Percy. They'd share a few words in between drags but nothing too sophisticated. They were too nervous about what Chiron had in store of us.

Piper and Jason sat across from them and seemed deep in conversation. Piper was sipping from a mug of coffee that she was gripping so tight her knuckles were white. Jason held her hand in his whole they spoke. He had been given a pair of glasses after a doctor found out just how bad his vision is. It made him look less like a blonde superhero and more like a blonde superhero in disguise.

Leo and Calypso both seemed to be in a good mood to no one's surprise. Leo was constantly cracking jokes to help keep our spirits up but David had a suspicion that Leo was just as worried as he is except he knows how to hide it better. He was currently showing off his fire ability as he helped teach Calypso how to blow smoke rings from her cigarette. David couldn't help but smirk as Calypso somehow blew all sorts of different shapes but she couldn't manage a simple circle.

Nico and Thalia kept to themselves and no one minded bothering them. Thalia was sharpening one of her hunting knives while she puffed on her cigarette while Nico fiddled with the radio that was currently playing a song by the Rolling Stones.

David was interrupted from his thoughts when Reyna laid her hand on his arm.

"Everything alright?" She asked with a genuine tone of concern.

David gave her a nod before grabbing a cigarette and lighting it. He took a few puffs before Chiron finally rolled in.

Everyone immediately shot to attention and saluted.

"At ease demigods," Chiron said as he rolled into the room with his wheelchair.

Everyone resumed sitting down in their spots around the table. David noticed something strange, Luke Castellan, Chiron's 2nd in charge, was missing. He usually accompanies him whenever he gives us missions and such.

Chiron, realizing that David and the others were a bit confused, started to explain.

"I'm just going to go ahead and cut to the chase, Luke has betrayed us and is now on the side of Kronos," he sighed.

It got so quiet after that that David could hear the sound of soldiers chatting outside the tent.

"How can you be sure?" Annabeth spoke up as she rose from her chair before Percy could stop her.

Chiron let out another sigh before pulling a folder marked classified and tossing it onto the center of the table.

"Luke went missing about two weeks ago and one of our spies picked up this image from a hostile base," he said as Annabeth reached forward and picked up the envelope.

It was clear from the expression on her face that she didn't want to believe what she was hearing but after looking through the pictures in the folder the look on her face shifted from disbelief to anger.

"That bastard!" she yelled startling everyone.

She slammed the pictures on the center of the table and David couldn't believe his eyes.

The picture was grainy and out of focus but David could still make out blonde hair. The picture showed Luke with a bloody dagger standing over what looked like a dead U.S soldier.

Everyone took some time to look over the photos and the reactions ranged from complete shock to seething anger.

"When do we get to kill this backstabbing son of a bitch?" Hazel asked.

David and a few others gave her weird looks. It was rare for Hazel to _ever_ swear. She only did whenever she was extremely pissed off and it was clear that this was one of those times.

"That's exactly why I gathering you all here today," Chiron answered.

"What do you mean Chiron?" Reyna asked.

"We're sending all of you a mission to terminate Luke Castellan...with extreme prejudice," Chiron spoke swiftly.

There were some nods of agreement around the rom before David spoke up.

"How are we going about this Chiron? Do we have any idea where he is?"

Chiron pulled another folder out and tossed it on top of the other one.

"You'll be flown in by the Air Calvary to the opening of this river here," he instructed as he opened the folder to reveal a map.

"You'll travel downstream by way of the Argo II until you make it to this point here where we suspect Kronos has forces assembling," Chiron continued.

"This mission will be very dangerous and there is no guarantee that all of you will make it back but the gods have faith in you and so do I so I expect nothing less than absolute success. Do I make myself clear demigods?!" Chiron finished.

"Sir, yes sir!" we all shouted in unison as we stood up and saluted.

"Dismissed and try to get some rest for tomorrow, you all are gonna need it,"


End file.
